Wildlife conservationists used three cannons to fling a net over a flock of unsuspecting Cape Cod shorebirds.
About a dozen wildlife researchers then moved the birds, called red knots, into holding containers. They measured, weighed, took feather samples from, and tagged the irritated birds, the Associated Press via the Modesto Bee reported.
The red knots also had geolocators (GPS devices) attached to their legs before they were released.
"Biologists hope the geolocators will use ambient light to calculate and record the locations of the rosy-breasted birds, helping conservation workers who will recapture them to determine their migration routes and refueling stops," the AP reported.
The red know is on the endangered list in New Jersey as well and may make it to the federal list in the near future.
The rare bird's population has dropped by a dangerous 75 percent since the 1980s in several areas, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the AP. The sharp decline can be partially blamed on the disappearance of horseshoe crabs, the red knot's primary food source.
"We've been focusing on the knot because there's big migration, this is a flashy shorebird, but 70 percent of shorebird species are in decline," Lawrence J. Niles of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, said. "It's the stopovers. ... If they don't have them, then they either can't make it down or can't make it back."
Red knots congregate in huge groups, in certain instances about 90 percent of the population can be found in the Delaware Bay, where the flock eats the dwindling horseshoe crab's eggs. The mass-munching of the crab's potential offspring could be what is causing both species to decline, Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds, reported.
The bird is known for making a grueling 10,000-mile migratory flight from South America to Antarctica, the AP reported.
