Tracking birds and building connections.

While it has long been known that many songbirds complete vast migrations from the temperate zones to the tropics each year, surprisingly few species have been tracked along their entire journey across the hemisphere to specific nonbreeding areas. Given that events on the wintering grounds and along migration can have a large impact on birds that breed in North America, the need for understanding the full annual cycle of migratory species has never been greater.

Enter the Kentucky Warbler, a striking yellow and black ground-dwelling forest bird of southeastern North America. In Nebraska, this species reaches its northwestern range limit, breeding only in the largest tracts of oak-woodlands at the extreme southeast corner of the state. Little is known about this species at the edge of its range, and no individual of this species has ever been tracked along its migration or to its wintering grounds.…