As governments race to build major infrastructure, accelerate clean energy projects and respond to biodiversity loss, they face a growing challenge: how do you move faster without putting wildlife at greater risk?
Answering that question requires better data – knowing where birds, bats and other migratory species travel, when they move and how human development affects them.
That’s where a newly renewed partnership between Western and Birds Canada is positioned to make a national impact.
On April 30, leaders from both organizations gathered at Long Point Bird Observatory and Birds Canada headquarters in Port Rowan, Ont., to formally sign a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU), reinforcing a research partnership that has quietly helped shape migration science in Canada for nearly three decades.
The agreement formalizes a long-standing relationship between Western researchers and one of Canada’s largest conservation organizations and creates new opportunities for collaborative research, student training, technological innovation and major funding partnerships.
It also strengthens a model governments increasingly rely on, with universities and non-profit organizations working together to generate scientific evidence that informs environmental policy and conservation decisions.
“We’re seeing increasing demand for high-quality scientific data that can help governments make better decisions,” said Chris Guglielmo, professor of biology and director of Western’s Centre for Animals on the Move. “Whether it’s protecting species at risk, understanding migration or reducing the environmental impact of major infrastructure projects, there’s a growing need for this research.”
That need is growing as governments attempt to balance economic development with environmental protection.
Migration research now plays an increasingly important role in environmental assessments tied to renewable energy projects, large infrastructure developments and habitat planning. Western researchers are currently working with Environment and Climate Change Canada to better predict mass bird migration events and reduce collisions with buildings and other infrastructure.
“We’re thrilled to be renewing our long-standing collaboration with our friends at Birds Canada,” said Western Science dean Matt Davison. “Because of its environmental importance and for its fundamental scientific value, understanding bird migration is a major focus area of our faculty.”
Using radar systems alongside wildlife tracking tools, researchers are helping identify when birds are moving, how high they’re flying and which species may be most vulnerable.
“We want to understand how different species move across landscapes, especially species at risk,” said Chris Guglielmo. “The better we understand those movements, the better we can protect them.”
From Chile to the Netherlands, researchers using Motus often work directly with Birds Canada teams managing the system.
“That global reach happened because Birds Canada stepped in and helped scale it,” said Guglielmo. “There’s no way a single university researcher could have built something like that alone.”
That collaboration has become a model for what both organizations hope to build next.
The renewed MOU creates a framework for pursuing major funding opportunities, including large-scale federal infrastructure grants and new collaborative research initiatives.
It also expands opportunities for experiential learning, giving students access to field research at Long Point while connecting them to advanced lab research and career pathways in conservation, government and academia.
For Western, that combination is increasingly valuable.
“It’s exciting to see what’s possible when researchers and organizations come together around a shared purpose,” said David Muir, associate vice‑president (innovation and strategic partnerships). “Partnerships like this bring together complementary strengths and create opportunities for collaborative research that generate meaningful scientific and conservation impact.”
Migration magnet
For Western, the agreement reinforces one of the university’s most distinctive strengths: combining world-class academic research with real-world conservation outcomes. That partnership is deeply rooted in Long Point. The oldest bird observatory in the Americas and one of North America’s most important migration monitoring sites, Long Point Bird Observatory is the founding program of Birds Canada. For decades, it has served as both a living laboratory and training ground for Western students and researchers. For Guglielmo, it also helped shape his own career. Before joining Western in 2004, he arrived at Long Point as a visiting researcher from the University of Montana, hoping to validate a new technique that used blood samples to measure how quickly migratory birds gain fat during stopovers. Long Point offered something few places in North America could – decades of migration data and an ideal natural laboratory to test new ideas. The project worked and helped convince Guglielmo that Western was where he wanted to build his career. “The Great Lakes region is huge for bird movement and migration and Long Point gives us access to one of the most important natural laboratories in North America. That’s why this work has continued to build here,” said Guglielmo.His research eventually helped spark one of Canada’s most important conservation technologies. In 2014, Guglielmo led a Canada Foundation for Innovation project that helped deploy an early network of automated radio telemetry towers across southern Ontario. At the time, researchers were testing whether small radio transmitters could track birds across vast distances. The network began with just five receivers before expanding to 80 towers across Ontario as part of Western’s demonstration project. Researchers quickly realized the technology had transformative potential. Birds Canada became a critical partner, helping manage the growing infrastructure and data system. The platform would eventually become the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. Today, Motus includes roughly 2,500 stations across 34 countries and helps researchers track birds, bats, insects and other migratory animals around the world.“It was the perfect place to do migration research. Everything just came together here.” – Chris Guglielmo, director of Western’s Centre for Animals on the Move
A bird in the Motus Wildlife Tracking system, with a tag on its leg. (Christopher Kindratsky/Western Communications)
