{"id":22997,"date":"2016-01-26T16:26:27","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T21:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=22997"},"modified":"2016-12-01T15:44:36","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T20:44:36","slug":"capturing-migration-in-a-strand-of-dna-feathers-reveal-a-birds-origins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/capturing-migration-in-a-strand-of-dna-feathers-reveal-a-birds-origins\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing Migration in a Strand of DNA: Feathers Reveal a Bird's Origins"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_22998\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"997\"]<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22998 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman.jpg\" alt=\"A Wilson's Warbler. Photo by Ganesh Jayaraman via Birdshare.\" width=\"997\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman.jpg 997w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman-720x401.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman-768x428.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Wilsons-Jayraman-480x267.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 997px) 100vw, 997px\" \/> A Wilson's Warbler. <em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8kJb7L\">Ganesh Jayaraman<\/a> via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/groups\/birdshare\">Birdshare<\/a>.<\/em>[\/caption]\n\n--><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><div class=\"article-list list-style alignright\"><h2 class=\"article-list-header\">More From Living Bird<\/h2><ul><li class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-1280x720.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-720x405.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-240x135.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/PenguinStory-FI-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" alt=\"Gentoo Penguins by Chris Linder\" loading=\"lazy\" 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class=\"article-item\"><div class=\"article-item-container\"><div class=\"article-item-media  content-article\"><figure class=\"article-item-media-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive.png 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-240x180.png 240w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/living-bird-acrhive-480x360.png 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Living Bird archives\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"article-item-body\"><span class=\"article-item-header\">Living Bird Magazine Archives<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" id=\"hs-cta-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\">\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da.png\"  alt=\"subscribe to Living Bird magazine\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '096b8ce3-0e2d-46c5-bbf7-12de3323c8da', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Used to be that if you wanted to know the path of a migrating songbird, you had to band the bird, wish it luck on an arduous journey, and cross your fingers that someone would catch it again someday. Then came electronic tracking devices, which are helpful if a bird is big enough to carry one. But now, it\u2019s possible to figure out a bird\u2019s migration route from nothing more than the DNA in a single feather.<\/p>\n<p>The new method, unveiled in a 2014 study led by Kristen Ruegg of the University of California, Los Angeles, promises to help scientists assess threats to small migratory birds all along their annual paths. Ruegg\u2019s test species was the Wilson\u2019s Warbler, a tiny, black-capped yellow songbird that breeds across northern North America, winters across Central America, and shows up as a migrant everywhere in between.<\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, tracking small birds has been tough: of the 307,489 Wilson\u2019s Warblers banded in the past century, only 289 have ever been recaptured. (That\u2019s less than 0.1 percent.) Satellite trackers\u2014though they provide exquisite detail for larger birds\u2014are too heavy for a 10-gram warbler to carry, and too expensive for widespread use. Their low-tech counterparts, ingenious devices called geolocators, pose the same limitation as bands: you have to recapture the bird to recover the data.<\/p>\n<p>Enter genetic markers, which are variations in DNA that birds are born with and pass on to their offspring. Over evolutionary time, bird populations living in different regions can accumulate their own distinct sets of genetic markers, which allow scientists to match a bird to the regional population it came from, no matter where they catch it. All they need is the technology to wade through all that DNA and find the markers.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of technology first made a splash in a study of humans in 2001. A landmark study identified the geographic origin of 3,000 Europeans to within a few hundred kilometers, solely from information in their DNA. Ruegg, along with her graduate adviser at the time, Thomas Smith of the University of California, Los Angeles, were inspired to start the Bird Genoscape Project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just beautiful,\u201d Ruegg said, \u201cand we thought, this is what we can now do for migratory birds.\u201d Fortuitously, Smith had already spent two decades collaborating with dozens of banding stations across the continent to collect hundreds of thousands of migratory bird feathers, with the hope to someday extract and sequence the DNA in the base of each feather shaft. \u201cIt was basically a huge data set awaiting a tool,\u201d Ruegg said.<\/p>\n<p><!--\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_23001\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"894\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23001 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg\" alt=\"Wilson\u2019s Warblers breed in six separate populations, represented by the colored regions on this map. Individuals born in each population all carry a set of genetic markers in their DNA. When the researchers sample the DNA of birds on migration and wintering grounds, they can match the bird back to the region it came from\u2014almost like seeing an out-of-state license plate on a car. The colored symbols indicate places where birds from each population were found during winter and spring. Taken together, they reveal broad patterns about where (and when) all six populations travel during the year. Adapted from a map created by Kristin Ruegg and used with permission.\" width=\"894\" height=\"898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg 894w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-720x723.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-768x771.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-480x482.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px\" \/><\/a> Wilson\u2019s Warblers breed in six separate populations, represented by the colored regions on this map. Individuals born in each population all carry a set of genetic markers in their DNA. When the researchers sample the DNA of birds on migration and wintering grounds, they can match the bird back to the region it came from\u2014almost like seeing an out-of-state license plate on a car. The colored symbols indicate places where birds from each population were found during winter and spring. Taken together, they reveal broad patterns about where (and when) all six populations travel during the year. <em>Adapted from a map created by Kristin Ruegg and used with permission.<\/em>[\/caption]\n\n--><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-720x723.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-768x771.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap-480x482.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg 894w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"Migration map of wilson's warbler\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Wilson\u2019s Warblers breed in six separate populations, represented by the colored regions on this map. Individuals born in each population all carry a set of genetic markers in their DNA. When the researchers sample the DNA of birds on migration and wintering grounds, they can match the bird back to the region it came from\u2014almost like seeing an out-of-state license plate on a car. The colored symbols indicate places where birds from each population were found during winter and spring. Taken together, they reveal broad patterns about where (and when) all six populations travel during the year.  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WilsonsMap.jpg\">Click here for a larger image<\/a>. <em>Adapted from a map created by Kristin Ruegg and used with permission.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Pulling feathers from this archive, Ruegg and colleagues went to work. They analyzed the DNA of 22 individual Wilson\u2019s Warblers that had been caught at each of five recognized breeding regions and encompassing all three known subspecies. They identified 100 genetic markers that, in combination, could pinpoint which breeding region each bird had come from. With this key in hand, they analyzed 1,626 more feathers from the archive, this time from birds caught during their migration and at Central American wintering sites.<\/p>\n<p>The result, according to the genetic markers they recovered from the feather DNA, was a map of the entire continent. It showed six genetically distinct populations: where each population breeds, where it spends the winter, and even some of the points along its migratory route.<\/p>\n<p>Just imagine visiting a banding station in the southwestern United States, where hundreds of Wilson\u2019s Warblers might pass through during spring migration. All of those birds look essentially the same, leaving you to wonder where each one is coming from and where it\u2019s headed to breed\u2014the California coast, interior California, the<\/p>\n<p>Pacific Northwest, or Alaska and the Yukon? Now, thanks to genetic markers, you can pluck a single feather to fill in the details of that journey.<\/p>\n<p>Ruegg\u2019s research team even revealed striking patterns in migration timing: at a station in Arizona, birds en route to coastal California came through first, followed by Pacific Northwest birds, and then Sierra Nevada breeders. Birds headed all the way to Alaska were the last to file through.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of information can be invaluable for exploring the regional factors causing bird populations to grow or decline, especially since about half of our migratory songbirds are thought to be doing the latter. Ruegg is now working on developing similar maps for more migratory species, including the Willow Flycatcher, whose south-western subspecies is endangered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group legacy-sidebar sidebar-alignright has-lightgray-background-color has-background\">\n<h4>Reference<\/h4>\n<p>Ruegg, K.C., et al. 2014. <a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/mec.12977\/abstract\">Mapping migration in a songbird using high-resolution genetic markers<\/a>. Molecular Ecology 23:5726\u20135739.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This genetic tracking method may not provide the pinpoint precision of satellite trackers, or even the fuzzy, within-60-miles precision of a geolcator. But with 80 to 100 percent accuracy in identifying a bird\u2019s breeding population, and the power to screen 300 birds per day for only $10 per bird, it has huge potential for studying migratory routes on a broad scale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was unbelievably novel when [Ruegg] started doing it a few years ago is now becoming standard,\u201d said Irby Lovette, director of the Cornell Lab\u2019s Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, who was not involved in the study. \u201cThis is a boom industry right now\u2014the technology and the analytical capability are racing ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Used to be that if you wanted to know the path of a migrating songbird, you had to band the bird, wish it luck on an arduous journey, and cross<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/capturing-migration-in-a-strand-of-dna-feathers-reveal-a-birds-origins\/\" title=\"ReadCapturing Migration in a Strand of DNA: Feathers Reveal a Bird&#8217;s Origins\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc":0,"_birdpress_living_bird_toc_title":"","_birdpress_featured_image":false,"_birdpress_hero_toggle":false,"_birdpress_hero_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_image_type":"image","_birdpress_hero_style":"default","_birdpress_hero_ratio":"","_birdpress_hero_h1":"","_birdpress_hero_media_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_media_array_id":[],"_birdpress_hero_media_array":[],"_birdpress_hero_media":0,"_birdpress_hero_video_id":0,"_birdpress_hero_video":0,"_birdpress_hero_youtube":"","_birdpress_hero_content":true,"_birdpress_hero_byline":"","_birdpress_hero_byline_bottom":"","_birdpress_hero_button_link":"","_birdpress_hero_button_text":"","_birdpress_hero_button_color":"","_birdpress_hero_date":false,"original_guid":"","_birdpress_hide_search":false,"_birdpress_page_width":"","_birdpress_global_cta":false,"_birdpress_widget_sidebar":"","_birdpress_next_article":0,"_birdpress_next_article_title":"","_birdpress_prev_article":0,"_birdpress_prev_article_title":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_sub_navigation":"","_birdpress_sub_navigation_title":false,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation_id":0,"_birdpress_anchor_navigation":"","_birdpress_postType":"both","_birdpress_categoryID":0,"_birdpress_tagID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostID":0,"_birdpress_parentPostTitle":"","_birdpress_menuID":0,"_birdpress_menuName":"","_birdpress_listHeader":"","_birdpress_listLayout":"card-display","_birdpress_listColumns":"","_birdpress_maxItems":12,"_birdpress_listPaginate":true,"_birdpress_displaySort":true,"_birdpress_sortOrder":"DESC","_birdpress_sortBy":"date","_birdpress_listID":"","_birdpress_listClass":"","_birdpress_displayImages":true,"_birdpress_displayCaptions":false,"_birdpress_displayExcerpts":false,"_birdpress_attTop":"","_birdpress_attBottom":"","_birdpress_showLogos":false,"_birdpress_post_logo":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_topic":0,"wds_primary_content-format":0,"wds_primary_cornell-lab-project":0,"wds_primary_host-project":0,"wds_primary_read-more-tag":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[998,1043],"content-format":[1055],"cornell-lab-project":[1069],"host-project":[],"read-more-tag":[],"class_list":["post-22997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-news-and-features","topic-science-conservation-news-and-features","content-format-article","cornell-lab-project-living-bird-magazine"],"metadata":{"associated-posts":[""],"_edit_lock":["1491504214:4"],"_edit_last":["4"],"_thumbnail_id":["22999"],"wdsi_message_id":[""],"wdsi_do_not_show":[""],"_wds_meta-robots-adv":[",,,"],"wpa_off":[null],"custom-byline":["<h5>By 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