COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has their eyes on the skies with the addition of three bird tracking towers in Colorado Springs.
The towers are funded by the zoo, and they say they will help researchers study several topics, such as migration paths and breeding patterns.
Zoo officials told News5 that the towers help collect data via radio telemetry through a tracking system and tiny bird backpacks.
"A lot of work has been done to make sure these are really unobstructing of every activity the bird is going to do," said Rebecca Zwicker, Animal Care Manager at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. "Everybody wants the bird to be successful and so these tags are super lightweight."
The first 10-foot tower has already been installed in the zoo.
"There has been a lot of focus on where to put them," said Zwicker. "That way the bird doesn't even notice that it is there anymore."
The second tower will be installed at Fountain Creek Nature Center inside of Fountain Creek Regional Park. The place for the third tower is still to be determined.
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