Quantifying full phenological event distributions reveals simultaneous advances, temporal stability and delays in spring and autumn migration timing in long‐distance migratory birds

In many taxa, the most common form of sex-biased migration timing is protandry—the earlier arrival of males at breeding areas. Here we test this concept across the annual cycle of long-distance migratory birds. Using more than 350 migration tracks of small-bodied trans-Saharan migrants, we quantify differences in male and female migration schedules and test for proximate determinants of sex-specific timing. In autumn, males started migration about 2 days earlier, but this difference did not carry over to arrival at the non-breeding sites. In spring, males on average departed from the African non-breeding sites about 3 days earlier and reached breeding sitesca4 days ahead of females. A cross-species comparison revealed large variation in the level of protandry and protogyny across the annual cycle. While we found tight links between individual timing of departure and arrival within each migration season, only for males the timing of spring migration was linked to the timing of previous autumn migration. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that protandry is not exclusively a reproductive strategy but rather occurs year-round and the two main proximate determinants for the magnitude of sex-biased arrival times in autumn and spring are sex-specific differences in departure timing and migration duration.

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Detours in long-distance migration across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: individual consistency and habitat associations

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.4304 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e4304 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dongping Liu ◽

Guogang Zhang ◽

Hongxing Jiang ◽

Jun Lu

Keyword(s):

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Habitat Associations ◽

Migration Routes ◽

Long Distance ◽

Migration Timing ◽

Ecological Barriers ◽

Flight Costs ◽

And Migration ◽

Individual Consistency

Migratory birds often follow detours when confronted with ecological barriers, and understanding the extent and the underlying drivers of such detours can provide important insights into the associated cost to the annual energy budget and the migration strategies. The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is the most daunting geographical barrier for migratory birds because the partial pressure of oxygen is dramatically reduced and flight costs greatly increase. We analyzed the repeated migration detours and habitat associations of four Pallas’s Gulls Larus ichthyaetus across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau over 22 migration seasons. Gulls exhibited notable detours, with the maximum distance being more than double that of the expected shortest route, that extended rather than reduced the passage across the plateau. The extent of longitudinal detours significantly increased with latitude, and detours were longer in autumn than in spring. Compared with the expected shortest routes, proximity to water bodies increased along autumn migration routes, but detour-habitat associations were weak along spring migration routes. Thus, habitat availability was likely one, but not the only, factor shaping the extent of detours, and migration routes were determined by different mechanisms between seasons. Significant between-individual variation but high individual consistency in migration timing and routes were revealed in both seasons, indicating a stronger influence of endogenous schedules than local environmental conditions. Gulls may benefit from repeated use of familiar routes and stopover sites, which may be particularly significant in the challenging environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

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Migration timing and its determinants for nocturnal migratory birds during autumn migration

Journal of Animal Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2656.12376 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 84 (5) ◽

pp. 1202-1212 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Frank A. La Sorte ◽

Wesley M. Hochachka ◽

Andrew Farnsworth ◽

Daniel Sheldon ◽

Daniel Fink ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Migration Timing

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Weather at the winter and stopover areas determines spring migration onset, progress, and advancements in Afro-Palearctic migrant birds

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1920448117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (29) ◽

pp. 17056-17062 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Birgen Haest ◽

Ommo Hüppop ◽

Franz Bairlein

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Spring Migration ◽

Long Distance ◽

Spring Phenology ◽

Migration Timing ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Breeding Grounds ◽

Migration Phenology ◽

Exogenous Factors

Climate change causes changes in the timing of life cycle events across all trophic groups. Spring phenology has mostly advanced, but large, unexplained, variations are present between and within species. Each spring, migratory birds travel tens to tens of thousands of kilometers from their wintering to their breeding grounds. For most populations, large uncertainties remain on their exact locations outside the breeding area, and the time spent there or during migration. Assessing climate (change) effects on avian migration phenology has consequently been difficult due to spatial and temporal uncertainties in the weather potentially affecting migration timing. Here, we show for six trans-Saharan long-distance migrants that weather at the wintering and stopover grounds almost entirely (∼80%) explains interannual variation in spring migration phenology. Importantly, our spatiotemporal approach also allows for the systematic exclusion of influences at other locations and times. While increased spring temperatures did contribute strongly to the observed spring migration advancements over the 55-y study period, improvements in wind conditions, especially in the Maghreb and Mediterranean, have allowed even stronger advancements. Flexibility in spring migration timing of long-distance migrants to exogenous factors has been consistently underestimated due to mismatches in space, scale, time, and weather variable type.

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Fuelling decisions in migratory birds: geomagnetic cues override the seasonal effect

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2007.0554 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 274 (1622) ◽

pp. 2145-2151 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Cecilia Kullberg ◽

Ian Henshaw ◽

Sven Jakobsson ◽

Patrik Johansson ◽

Thord Fransson

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Late Phase ◽

Experimental Treatment ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Fuel Load ◽

Seasonal Effect ◽

Long Distance ◽

Wintering Area ◽

Thrush Nightingale ◽

Fuel Deposition

Recent evaluations of both temporal and spatial precision in bird migration have called for external cues in addition to the inherited programme defining the migratory journey in terms of direction, distance and fuelling behaviour along the route. We used juvenile European robins ( Erithacus rubecula ) to study whether geomagnetic cues affect fuel deposition in a medium-distance migrant by simulating a migratory journey from southeast Sweden to the wintering area in southern Spain. In the late phase of the onset of autumn migration, robins exposed to the magnetic treatment attained a lower fuel load than control birds exposed to the ambient magnetic field of southeast Sweden. In contrast, robins captured in the early phase of the onset of autumn migration all showed low fuel deposition irrespective of experimental treatment. These results are, as expected, the inverse of what we have found in similar studies in a long-distance migrant, the thrush nightingale ( Luscinia luscinia ), indicating that the reaction in terms of fuelling behaviour to a simulated southward migration varies depending on the relevance for the species. Furthermore, we suggest that information from the geomagnetic field act as an important external cue overriding the seasonal effect on fuelling behaviour in migratory birds.

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Weather in The Breeding Area and During Migration Affects the Demography of a Small Long-Distance Passerine Migrant

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/122.2.637 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 122 (2) ◽

pp. 637-647 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bård G. Stokke ◽

Anders Pape Møller ◽

Bernt-Erik Sæther ◽

Goetz Rheinwald ◽

Hans Gutscher

Keyword(s):

Population Size ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Significant Proportion ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Breeding Area ◽

Long Distance ◽

Apparent Survival ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Common House

Abstract Migratory birds are subject to the effects of various weather systems during the year. Fluctuations in population size may depend on survivorship of juveniles and adults at various stages of the annual cycle. Severe weather conditions can lower survival, especially in migrating passerines that feed on insects. We investigated the effects of climate and density dependence on survival in a population of Common House-Martins (Delichon urbicum), including variables of weather experienced both in their breeding areas and during autumn migration. Unfavorable weather conditions during autumn migration had a severe negative effect on adult apparent survival, irrespective of sex; whereas temperature in the breeding area and population size explained a significant proportion of variance in juvenile survival. Thus, weather conditions experienced in different areas can regulate various age classes in different ways, which suggests that climate change can have a significant but complex influence on demography in passerine populations.

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The Influence of Different Light Wavelengths of Anthropogenic Light at Night on Nestling Development and the Timing of Post-fledge Movements in a Migratory Songbird

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.735112 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Saeedeh Bani Assadi ◽

Kevin C. Fraser

Keyword(s):

White Light ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Green Light ◽

Control Group ◽

Light At Night ◽

Long Distance ◽

Migration Timing ◽

Nestling Development ◽

Migratory Songbird ◽

The Impact

Many different aspects of an animal’s lifecycle such as its behavior, patterns of hormone activity, and internal clock time, can be affected by anthropogenic light at night (ALAN). Exposing an organism to ALAN during its early life could also have an impact on its development. Since photoperiod can trigger or schedule the migration timing of long-distance migratory birds, there is great potential for anthropogenic light to interact with photoperiod to affect timing. However, very little has been investigated regarding the impacts of ALAN on post-hatching development and migration timing. We investigated the impact of ALAN during nestling development in a long-distance migratory songbird to determine the potential impact on the timing of post-breeding movements in the wild. We experimentally manipulated the light by using programmable lighting, in the nest boxes of free-living nestlings of purple martin (Progne subis) in Manitoba, Canada. We exposed two groups of developing nestlings, from hatch to fledge date, to green or white LED lights (5 lux) during the night. We also included a control group that experienced natural, ambient light at night. We found that some adults abandoned their nests shortly after starting the experiment (4 of 15 nests in the white light treatment). For the nests that remained active, nestlings exposed to the white light treatment had higher weights (at day 20 or 22), later fledge dates (1.54 ± 0.37, 95% CI 0.80–2.28), and later colony departure date (2.84 ± 1.00, 95% CI 0.88–4.81), than young of the control group. Moreover, nestlings of both white and green light groups had longer nesting duration than nestlings of the control group. This study demonstrates the impact of ALAN on the development of post-breeding movement timing in nestlings of wild migratory birds. However, our results also indicate that green light may have less of an impact as compared to white light.

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Protogyny in Autumn Migration: Do Male Birds ”Play Chicken”?

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/122.1.71 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 122 (1) ◽

pp. 71-81 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Alexander M. Mills

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Indirect Selection ◽

Male Competition ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Direct Selection ◽

Differential Migration ◽

The North ◽

Parsimonious Explanation ◽

Ground Conditions ◽

Wintering Ground

AbstractProtandry, the earlier arrival of males than of females on breeding areas, occurs in many taxa, including many migratory birds. Numerous hypotheses have been generated to explain protandry. Using bird-banding records, I show that protogyny, the earlier migration of females, frequently occurs in the autumn, though it is less universal and less dramatic than spring protandry. In one species, it occurs in both hatch-year and adult birds. When (1) spring and autumn, (2) departures and arrivals, and (3) breeding and wintering ground conditions are considered, hypotheses generated only to explain spring protandry can be more thoroughly evaluated. Using that approach, the most parsimonious explanation of differential migration between the sexes explains earlier male arrival in spring and later male departure in autumn through either (1) indirect selection operating on intrasexual male competition for territories or (2) direct selection operating on intersexual relations requiring males to be present on breeding territories when females are present. In autumn-protogynous species, males may ”play chicken,” balancing the benefits of remaining longer than females and protecting territories for subsequent years against the costs of remaining in the north under deteriorating conditions and delaying the acquisition of a good winter territory.Protogynie et migration automnale: Est-ce que les mâles ”jouent les dégonflés”?

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Comment on "Rapid Advance of Spring Arrival Dates in Long-Distance Migratory Birds"

Science ◽

10.1126/science.1136148 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 315 (5812) ◽

pp. 598b-598b ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

C. Both

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Rapid Advance ◽

Arrival Dates ◽

Spring Arrival

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Great flights by great snipes: long and fast non-stop migration over benign habitats

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2011.0343 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 7 (6) ◽

pp. 833-835 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Raymond H. G. Klaassen ◽

Thomas Alerstam ◽

Peter Carlsson ◽

James W. Fox ◽

Åke Lindström

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Strenuous Exercise ◽

Migration Route ◽

Long Distance ◽

Migration Strategy ◽

Ice Caps ◽

Fuel Loads ◽

Stopover Sites ◽

Ecological Barriers ◽

Suitable Habitats

Migratory land birds perform extreme endurance flights when crossing ecological barriers, such as deserts, oceans and ice-caps. When travelling over benign areas, birds are expected to migrate by shorter flight steps, since carrying the heavy fuel loads needed for long non-stop flights comes at considerable cost. Here, we show that great snipes Gallinago media made long and fast non-stop flights (4300–6800 km in 48–96 h), not only over deserts and seas but also over wide areas of suitable habitats, which represents a previously unknown migration strategy among land birds. Furthermore, the great snipes achieved very high ground speeds (15–27 m s −1 ), which was not an effect of strong tailwind support, and we know of no other animal that travels this rapidly over such a long distance. Our results demonstrate that some migratory birds are prepared to accept extreme costs of strenuous exercise and large fuel loads, even when stopover sites are available along the route and there is little tailwind assistance. A strategy of storing a lot of energy before departure, even if migration is over benign habitats, may be advantageous owing to differential conditions of fuel deposition, predation or infection risk along the migration route.

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