A radio-tagged monarch. Photo courtesy of David James, Washington State University

DAVIS, CA (MPG) - Wings up, Garvey! Let's go!

This year we adopted a migratory monarch through the Adopt-a-Monarch program of Washington State University entomologist David James, who is radio-tagging monarchs in Idaho and Oregon and recording their movements as they head toward their overwintering sites in coastal California and elsewhere.

Ours departed Sept. 17 in Phoenix, Oregon.

On Sept. 16, I contemplated her departure, “Butterfly Garvey is packing her bags. She’s ordered a first-class ticket from Phoenix, Ore., Jackson County, to Santa Cruz County, coastal California. She’s got her boarding pass. She’s picked out her destination, a 100-foot Eucalyptus tree at Natural Bridges State Beach, city of Santa Cruz, to join her overwintering friends. That’s a 420-mile trip, with stops for flight fuel (nectar) and perhaps the contemplation of her dwindling species, Danaus plexippus.”

And Sept. 17, it happened. Butterfly Garvey WR124, Tag A7834AD2, took flight. We're tracking her through blue-tooth technology. As of noon Sept. 17, the Project Monarch mobile app says she's been detected 430 times.

Butterfly Garvey is part of 2026 Great Monarch Migration, specifically Professor James’ 200-monarch radio-tagging project.

As James explained Sept. 6 on his Facebook page, “Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Northwest,” https://www.facebook.com/MonarchButterfliesInThePacificNorthwest: “Each carries an electronic tag which ‘pings’ when someone with a cell phone is within 100 yards or so. The pings are transmitted to ‘Project Monarch’ and show up on the app and over time provide a detailed record of that particular monarch’s migration route.”

One of the first butterflies to be e-tagged on Aug. 12 in Hayden, Idaho is now more than 600 km to the SSE just about to cross into Utah. None of the Idaho-released monarchs are showing flight towards California so far. The monarchs in Oregon have only just been released in Portland and Sisters and are yet to show clear movement, but we fully expect them all to head to California.

“This extraordinary number of monarchs e-tagged in the Pacific Northwest was made possible by 200 citizen scientists, monarch advocates and conservation organizations adopting monarchs through our Adopt-a-Monarch website https://adoptamonarch.org/,” James wrote.

“This site is well worth a visit if you want to learn more about our program including the locations of all the releases we make this season. The site also contains a tutorial on how to get and use the Project Monarch app. With this app installed on your phone you can join in the fun of tracking individual butterflies released in Idaho and Oregon! You will see data being collected in real time along with the scientists! Will Idaho monarchs end up in Arizona or even Mexico? You (along with many others) will be the first to know.”

Wouldn't it be amazing if the Garvey butterfly fluttered into our garden, just like one of the monarchs in James' project did on Sept. 5, 2016? Citizen scientist Steven Johnson of Ashland, Ore., paper-tagged and released it on Aug. 28. The monarch, a male, nectared on Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola) and a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) for flight fuel before continuing its journey. The tag read “[email protected] A6093.” 

James later told us, “So, assuming it didn't travel much on the day you saw it, it flew 285 miles in seven days or about 40.7 miles per day. Pretty amazing.” He mentioned it in one of his research papers.

Now the G. A. R. V. E. Y. butterfly may be heading our way. To us, the letters stand for generation, altitude, roosting, vectored navigation, eucalyptus and yield.

G for generation, she is the unique super generation (the fourth generation of the year) that lives for up to eight months to make the long trip; A for altitude, the high altitudes and thermal air currents she rides to conserve energy while flying.; R for roosting, she will bundle with others in large clusters on trees at night to stay warm and protect themselves from predators. V for vectored navigation, her internal “compass” system that uses the sun's position and the Earth's magnetic field to stay on course; E. for eucalyptus, the specific tree she’ll rely on for shelter, and Y for yield, the final arrival and rest at her winter destination after traveling 420 miles.

It all began when we noticed this Facebook message from James on Jan. 11: “The Washington State University Pacific Northwest Monarch tagging program, which started 14 years ago has proved that all Oregon Monarchs and the vast majority of Washington Monarchs migrate to California and overwinter along the coastline. However, it has not answered the question of where the majority of Idaho Monarchs go. From many thousands of Monarchs tagged in Idaho, only three have been recovered in California (compared to hundreds of Oregon and Washington-released Monarchs). Where do most Idaho Monarchs migrate to? It is possible that they head due south (we have some short-distance tag recoveries that suggests this), flying through Utah, Arizona and perhaps end up in Mexico for overwintering. Conventional tagging, using paper tags seems unable to throw a light on this mystery likely because of the wide, open spaces and relative lack of people to sight tagged Monarchs on an inland route south through Utah and Arizona.”

“Excitingly, due to very recent technological advances, we now have the opportunity to track individual Monarchs via the use of a tiny transmitter that can be carried by a Monarch!” he wrote. “This solar-powered transmitter allows us to see the progress and route taken by a monarch in real-time! Signals produced by these E-tags are detected by any cell phone with Bluetooth capability that is within about a quarter of a mile of the butterfly. The signals and data are automatically transmitted to a central data-gathering point and available to scientists. This year, we hope to E-tag at least 100 monarchs in Idaho. Unfortunately, E-tags cost $200 each, so we need donations. We will accept any amount but if you want to contribute the full cost of a tag, then you can name the Monarch that carries your tag. You will also be able to track the progress of your Monarch on your cell phone! If you are interested in helping our research and solving this mystery, then go to: http://adoptamonarch.org where you will find all the details about the program and how to donate. Hopefully, our Monarch E-tagging program this year will go a long way towards solving the Idaho Monarch Mystery and you will be part of it.”

We donated to the project on Jan. 14. Shortly afterwards, a thank-you note arrived, “Your gift directly funds the tracking technology for one monarch butterfly, helping scientists uncover migration mysteries and guide conservation efforts across North America. Because of supporters like you, we can better understand where monarchs travel, what challenges they face along the way, and how to protect the habitats they depend on. We’re deeply grateful for your support and for being part of this important work. Every tagged monarch brings us one step closer to ensuring these incredible butterflies continue their journey for generations to come.”

When Butterfly Garvey took flight Sept. 17 from Phoenix, she was not alone. She joined other e-tagged monarchs with such names as Barbara, Barbie, Betsy, Christine 51726, Debbie Sue, Fern, Gem, Hope, Jamison, Justinatti, Leslie Diane, Liz, Mary, Mona Lisa, Nowinski 799 and Rusty.

Names of other monarchs yet to be released in Oregon include such creative monikers as Flappy, Get Free, Pokeynose, and Go the Distance. 

Safe travels, monarchs! You, too, Flappy and Pokeynose.