Some unfortunate news

For several weeks we have been monitoring the nest of last year's tagged female, Abbo,  quietly from a distance away using a telescope.  On Tuesday June 9th, our field assistant Zach, arrived at the New Ringgold nest at 7am to begin observations for the day. When he arrived Abbo was not present at the nest (possible she was out hunting or grabbing some nest material), but when another hour passed, and then another, Zach knew something was wrong. Many of you in the area were aware of the storm that occurred on Monday night. So because of this and the lack of a bird at the nest Zach decided to search around the area and when he approached the base of the nest tree he found feathers from an adult Broadwing strewn about the forest floor.

After calling Laurie to inform her of the situation, she came out to assess the situation and from the evidence around the nest we believe one of the adults of the pair (Abbo or her mate) was taken by a Great Horned Owl or another avian predator. We walked around the nest site looking for other possible clues and Abbo's transmitter but we did not find it. After checking the last locations online, we retrieved a weak, approximate signal from an area west of the nest. Since the transmitter only turns on every 48 hours to save on battery life, on Thursday, we waited anxiously for a new location to come in however, the one signal from the night of the event is the only signal we have had in 10 days. During observations the week before, Zach noticed Abbo's antenna looked bent up and may have affected its ability to send signals since her return. 

So, we surmise that either Abbo or her mate was taken during incubation of their eggs. We have heard a Broadwing call on several occasions during the past week and Rebecca saw one soaring high, west of the nest, on Wednesday, so we know that one is still in the area. We intend to spend time next week looking around to try to see the  bird and determine if it is her (hopefully) .  We also will climb the nest and do  grid searches to see if we can find the transmitter or other evidence. 

The nest Abbo and her mate had chosen was particularly exposed to the sky due to defoliation from caterpillars, making the nest more vulnerable than usual.  However, predation by larger raptors or nest predation by mammals is one of the natural threats these hawks face and may shape their habitat selection. 

 We will continue to keep you posted when we find more conclusive evidence and thank you for your continued support for the Broadwing Project.