Migration strategy of a flight generalist, the Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

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Competition for early arrival in migratory birds

Hanna Rinta-Kokko (1999)

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Tracking of Arctic terns Sterna paradisaea reveals longest animal migration.

Carsten Egevang, Iain Stenhouse, Richard A. Phillips … (2010)

The study of long-distance migration provides insights into the habits and performance of organisms at the limit of their physical abilities. The Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea is the epitome of such behavior; despite its small size (<125 g), banding recoveries and at-sea surveys suggest that its annual migration from boreal and high Arctic breeding grounds to the Southern Ocean may be the longest seasonal movement of any animal. Our tracking of 11 Arctic terns fitted with miniature (1.4-g) geolocators revealed that these birds do indeed travel huge distances (more than 80,000 km annually for some individuals). As well as confirming the location of the main wintering region, we also identified a previously unknown oceanic stopover area in the North Atlantic used by birds from at least two breeding populations (from Greenland and Iceland). Although birds from the same colony took one of two alternative southbound migration routes following the African or South American coast, all returned on a broadly similar, sigmoidal trajectory, crossing from east to west in the Atlantic in the region of the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone. Arctic terns clearly target regions of high marine productivity both as stopover and wintering areas, and exploit prevailing global wind systems to reduce flight costs on long-distance commutes.

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Tropical winter habitat limits reproductive success on the temperate breeding grounds in a migratory bird.

D. Ryan Norris, Peter P Marra, T. Kurt Kyser … (2004)

Identifying the factors that control population dynamics in migratory animals has been constrained by our inability to track individuals throughout the annual cycle. Using stable carbon isotopes, we show that the reproductive success of a long-distance migratory bird is influenced by the quality of habitat located thousands of kilometres away on tropical wintering grounds. For male American redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla), winter habitat quality influenced arrival date on the breeding grounds, which in turn affected key variables associated with reproduction, including the number of young fledged. Based on a winter-habitat model, females occupying high-quality winter habitat were predicted to produce more than two additional young and to fledge offspring up to a month earlier compared with females wintering in poor-quality habitat. Differences of this magnitude are highly important considering redstarts are single brooded, lay clutches of only three to five eggs and spend only two-and-a-half months on the breeding grounds. Results from this study indicate the importance of understanding how periods of the annual cycle interact for migratory animals. Continued loss of tropical wintering habitat could have negative effects on migratory populations in the following breeding season, minimizing density-dependent effects on the breeding grounds and leading to further population declines. If conservation efforts are to be successful, strategies must incorporate measures to protect all the habitats used during the entire annual cycle of migratory animals.

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Journal

Title: Behavioral Ecology

Abbreviated Title: Behavioral Ecology

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)

ISSN (Print): 1045-2249

ISSN (Electronic): 1465-7279

Publication date Created: December 19 2011

Publication date (Print): August 30 2011

Volume: 23

Issue: 1

Pages: 58-68

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DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr150

SO-VID: 27e2e279-454e-4d62-8f48-c85929d5b0b8

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Migration strategy of a flight generalist, the Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

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Behavioral Ecology of Fishes

Most cited references 39

Competition for early arrival in migratory birds

Tracking of Arctic terns Sterna paradisaea reveals longest animal migration.

Tropical winter habitat limits reproductive success on the temperate breeding grounds in a migratory bird.

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