Tiny tags help track monarch migration

It’s monarch migration season, and one butterfly dubbed 80FranksMeadow has traveled to Sacramento, Mexico, since Nebraska Game and Parks staff tagged her in early September.

She has about 640 miles to go before reaching overwintering grounds in central Mexico.

80FranksMeadow is one of 95 monarchs Nebraska partners tagged across the state in 2026. She joins 1,875 others tagged across North America this year, the second year of Project Monarch.

The project aims to better understand where monarchs travel, rest and find habitat during annual migration.

From late August through September, staff from the Monarch Joint Venture, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium captured monarchs in six Nebraska communities: Omaha, Ponca, Bassett, Alda, Crawford and Kimball.

Using nontoxic eyelash glue, they attached a 0.002-ounce Bluetooth-enabled tag to each before releasing them for their southward migration. They also named the monarchs: 80FranksMeadow after the location monarchs were captured and tagged, Brooke after one biologist’s daughter, Tim after the Game and Parks director.

As monarchs fly south, cellphones detect their tags when they pass within range. The free Project Monarch app then displays each detection.

Before this project, battery-powered trackers were too heavy for monarchs to carry. The new tags use solar technology, which drastically reduces their weight.

“This was an incredible scientific breakthrough that monarch scientists have dreamt about since we first learned we could use sticker tags to track the migration,” said Mercy Manzanares, pollinator ecologist with the Monarch Joint Venture. “We are finally seeing behind the curtain on what happens during the migration and not just observing two points on a monthslong journey.”

Several monarchs tagged in Nebraska already have traveled more than 840 miles and continue toward the U.S. border. Others haven’t registered a cellphone detection in more than a month.

Every detection adds to what biologists know about monarch migration and can help them target conservation efforts. Monarch populations continue to decline, and the species remains a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“This project gives us a great opportunity to document where these monarchs go and better understand the places they use along the way,” said Brett Andersen, Nebraska Game and Parks wildlife diversity program manager. “It also gives people a chance to follow an individual monarch and see how Nebraska connects to the larger monarch migration.”

Next year, Nebraska partners will continue deploying tags, focusing on monarchs in central and western Nebraska — areas that have been less studied.

The Omaha Zoological Society provided funding for the Nebraska tags, while a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust funded supplies.

The public also can support this effort by donating to the Nebraska Wildlife Conservation Fund. Visit OutdoorNebraska.gov and search for “Wildlife Conservation Fund.”