44 Nebraskaland • March 2023
characteristics that make it diffi cult to use this technology
on all but large bird species.
Satellite transmitters only recently became small enough
to place on a bird the size of an American woodcock. There
are strict standards and weight limits that must be followed
when placing any type of transmitter on a wild bird, rules that
ensure that birds are not harmed or impaired by research. The
one drawback of using these small transmitters is that they
have limited battery life and can only power the transmission
of two dozen or so specifi c point locations.
Satellite transmitters only become valuable if they can be
deployed on a bird, and that requires capturing a woodcock.
This is a challenge because of the bird's secretive habits.
We trapped woodcock by identifying sites where birds were
displaying one evening, returning the next and placing
an array of fi nely-woven mist nets around the display
site. Returning birds caught in the nets were immediately
removed, and then weighed, measured, banded, outfi tted
with transmitters and released.
Brenner holds a GPS transmitter weighing just 4 grams that
will be fi tted on an American woodcock.
Joel Jorgensen, nongame bird program manager with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and Stephen Brenner, an
avian ecologist in a partnership position with Audubon Nebraska and the Commission, set up mist nets to capture woodcock
at George Syas Wildlife Management Area.
