Albany Hill monarchs tagged in small pilot; staff urge public to try Project Monarch app

Marggo Cunningham, Albany’s natural areas manager, briefed the commission on a monarch butterfly-tagging pilot done on Albany Hill in partnership with California Fish and Wildlife, California State Parks, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Point Blue Conservation Science.

"By tracking the monarch butterfly population, we can use that information to figure out how other important pollinators are doing as well," Marggo Cunningham said, describing how staff and partners chilled, sexed, weighed, sampled for OE (a debilitating parasite) and put small Bluetooth/radio telemetry tags on the largest, healthiest monarchs. Cunningham said the tags are lightweight and studies show they do not affect flight or mating.

The team tagged four males and one female during a late-season effort in February and plans to return in November to tag many more. Staff encouraged residents to try the free Project Monarch phone app to view tagged individuals and follow their movements.

Commissioners asked whether the five tagged monarchs could be tracked from Albany; Cunningham said tagged butterflies may have already moved inland but that the Project Monarch app shows tagged individuals from multiple sites and can help illustrate movement between overwintering sites.

No action was required; the presentation was informational and commissioners thanked staff for the demonstration and the linked California Department of Fish and Wildlife video.