Tags of last year

Tagging
1

Hi guys,

I have some tags of last years. How good could they be in August to
use? What is your policy about this? I really like to hear your
experiences in this?

René

2

Hi Rene,

It's tough to tell. As far as I know no one has done any formal tests of how much life tags lose over time, but they do lose life - it likely varies with tag/battery size and conditions. Performance wise they should be fine - it's likely that one or two tags may no longer work. One recommendation is to store the tags in a fridge to lower battery performance/drain during their down-time.

The greatest risk is the potential overlap of codes with new tags in the system. Please ensure that your metadata is up to date in the Motus database, and inspect the data issues section of your Motus project page before deploying which will automatically detect any potential conflicts.

Best wishes,

Stu

Stuart A. Mackenzie
Director, Migration Ecology
Birds Canada | Oiseaux Canada
PO Box 160, 115 Front Rd. Port Rowan, Ontario. N0E 1M0.
Office: (519)-586-3531 X 162 | Mobile:820-6040
smackenzie@birdscanada.org| birdscanada.org |motus.org|birdscanada.org/lpbo

3

Hi,

It is very difficult to determine the loss precisely and is different for different cell technologies.

I happily deploy tags up to a year after purchase. If you attempt to replace the battery then soldering a new one can reduce your capacity as much, unless of course you can get hold of tagged cells which manufacturers all now use.
Absolutely no problems with August because as Stu says there are no performance issues and from my tests capacity loss will be <10% over that time period. Certainly storage in lower temperatures will help.

Thanks

Nigel Butcher
Senior Technical Officer
RSPB
The Lodge
Sandy
SG19 2DL
Tel: 01767 693003
Email: nigel.butcher@rspb.org.uk

4

Thanks for the tip Stu? We have a bunch of tags we likely will not be able to deploy because of COVID restrictions, so just vacuum sealed them and stuck them in the freezer.
Best,
Chris

Christopher Tonra, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Avian Wildlife Ecology
School of Environment and Natural Resources
The Ohio State University
2021 Coffey Road
210 Kottman Hall
Columbus, OH 43210
O: 614-292-9838
Website: http://goo.gl/dc7558
twitter: https://goo.gl/cju3a6