Phenological trends in the pre‐ and post‐breeding migration of long‐distance migratory birds

Abstract On the journey to wintering sites, most migratory birds alternate between flights and stopovers, where they rest and refuel. In contrast to the time-minimization strategy commonly assumed to drive the pre-breeding migration, birds are rather expected to follow an energy minimization during post-breeding migration. It is the cumulative duration of flights and stopovers that determines the total energy requirements and duration of the journey. Since migrating birds actually spend most of the time at stopovers sites, selection to minimize the amount of energy or time spent on migration is likely to operate on the effectiveness of stopover rest and refueling. Here, we address the relative contribution of factors acting on departure decisions from a stopover site during the post-breeding migration in a long-distance migratory songbird. When capture probability is low, it is impossible to measure fattening over the entire duration of the stopover. To get around this limitation, we use time since arrival (TSA) as a proxy for the progressive temporal change occurring in the internal state of an individual (i.e. rest, physiological recovery, and fuel loading) during the stopover. We develop a capture–recapture model to address the respective effects of estimated TSA and of weather conditions on departure probability. Using a 20-year dataset for Sedge Warblers (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus), we show that TSA served as a surrogate of the most important information that birds use when deciding to depart from a stopover site, while low humidity and rising atmospheric pressure only slightly increase daily departure probability. Hence, a bird would resume migration mainly according to the time it had to rest and refuel, and then fine-tuning departure decision according to weather conditions. The generality of these results needs to be assessed by applying this modeling framework to other migratory species and at sites or times with greater weather variability.

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When to depart from a stopover site? Time-since-arrival matters more than current weather conditions

10.1101/2020.02.05.933788 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sebastien Roques ◽

Pierre-Yves Henry ◽

Gaetan Guyot ◽

Bruno Bargain ◽

Emmanuelle Cam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Total Duration ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Long Distance ◽

Migration Strategy ◽

Stopover Site ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

Departure Probability ◽

Breeding Migration ◽

Migrating Birds

On the journey to wintering sites, migratory birds usually alternate between flights and stopovers where they rest and refuel. Migration strategies are assumed to differ according to season: a time-minimization pre-breeding migration strategy towards breeding locations, and an energy-minimization post-breeding migration strategy to wintering ones. The duration of flights and stopovers determines the energy requirements and the total duration of the journey. Since migrating birds actually spend most of the time at stopovers, selection to minimize the amount of energy or time spent on migration is very likely to operate on the effectiveness of stopover rest and refueling. Here we address the relative contribution of factors to departure decisions from stopover sites during the post-breeding migration in a long-distance migratory songbird. When capture probability is low it is impossible to assess the variation in body condition over the entire duration of the stopover. To get around this, we use Time Since Arrival (TSA) as a proxy for the changes in the state of individuals during the stopover. We propose that TSA is an integrative proxy for resting, feeding and fattening efficiency. We develop a capture-recapture model to address the relationship between departure probability, estimated TSA, and weather conditions. Using a 20-year dataset from sedge warblers, we show that TSA has a larger effect on departure probability than weather conditions. Low humidity and an increase in atmospheric pressure in the days preceding departure are associated with higher departure probability, but these effects are smaller than that of TSA.

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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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Lower annual fecundity in long-distance migrants than in less migratory birds of temperate Europe

Journal of Ornithology ◽

10.1007/s10336-008-0348-0 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 150 (1) ◽

pp. 281-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Bruno Bruderer ◽

Volker Salewski

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Temperate Europe

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Birds facing climate change: a qualitative model for the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour

Rivista Italiana di Ornitologia ◽

10.4081/rio.2015.197 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 85 (1) ◽

pp. 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michelangelo Morganti

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Phenotypic Plasticity ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Future Research ◽

Qualitative Model ◽

Migratory Behaviour ◽

Adaptive Potential ◽

Long Distance ◽

Genetic Determination ◽

Recent Climate

Recent climate change is altering the migratory behaviour of many bird species. An advancement in the timing of spring events and a shift in the geographical distribution have been detected for birds around the world. In particular, intra-Palearctic migratory birds have advanced arrivals in spring and shortened migratory distances by shifting northward their wintering grounds. These changes in migratory patterns are considered adaptive responses facilitating the adjustment of the life cycle to the phenological changes found in their breeding areas. However, in some cases, populations exposed to the same selective pressures do not show any appreciable adaptive change in their behaviour. Basing on the comparison of realized and non-realized adaptive changes, I propose here the formulation of a qualitative model that predicts the potential of migratory birds populations to change adaptively their migratory behaviour. The model assumes that the adaptive potential of migratory behaviour is fuelled by both genetic diversity and phenotypic plasticity. Populations of long-distance migrants are exposed to strong environmental canalization that largely eroded their phenotypic plasticity and reduced genetic variability, so that they show a very low amount of adaptive potential regarding migratory behaviour. On the contrary, partial-migrant populations have a highly varied genetic profile and are more plastic at the phenotypic level, and consequently show the highest amount of adaptive potential. Species with mainly social and mainly genetic determination of the migratory behaviour are separately treated in the model. Specific empirical models to foresee the adaptive strategies of wild bird populations that face to climate change can be derived from the general theoretical model. As example, a specific model about the shortening of migratory distances in Western European migratory bird is presented. Finally, a number of future research lines on the topic of adaptive potential of migratory behaviour are discussed, including some examples of concrete study cases. In conclusion, partial-migration emerge as the less known system and future research efforts on this topic are expected to be especially fruitful.

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Coupled Dynamics of Lemmings and Long-Distance Migratory Birds

Biological Resources and Migration ◽

10.1007/978-3-662-06083-4_22 ◽

2004 ◽

pp. 219-228

Author(s):

Noél Holmgren

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Long Distance ◽

Coupled Dynamics

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Photoperiodic response may facilitate adaptation to climatic change in long-distance migratory birds

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2003.0005 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 270 (suppl_1) ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Timothy Coppack ◽

Francisco Pulido ◽

Michael Czisch ◽

Dorothee P. Auer ◽

Peter Berthold

Keyword(s):

Climatic Change ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Photoperiodic Response ◽

Long Distance

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Climate change relaxes the time constraints for late-born offspring in a long-distance migrant

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2016.1366 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 283 (1839) ◽

pp. 20161366 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Barbara M. Tomotani ◽

Phillip Gienapp ◽

Domien G. M. Beersma ◽

Marcel E. Visser

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Annual Cycle ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Time Constraints ◽

Long Distance ◽

Hatch Date ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

And Migration

Animals in seasonal environments need to fit their annual-cycle stages, such as moult and migration, in a tight schedule. Climate change affects the phenology of organisms and causes advancements in timing of these annual-cycle stages but not necessarily at the same rates. For migratory birds, this can lead to more severe or more relaxed time constraints in the time from fledging to migration, depending on the relative shifts of the different stages. We tested how a shift in hatch date, which has advanced due to climate change, impacts the organization of the birds' whole annual cycle. We experimentally advanced and delayed the hatch date of pied flycatcher chicks in the field and then measured the timing of their annual-cycle stages in a controlled laboratory environment. Hatch date affected the timing of moult and pre-migratory fattening, but not migration. Early-born birds hence had a longer time to fatten up than late-born ones; the latter reduced their interval between onset of fattening and migration to be able to migrate at the same time as the early-born birds. This difference in time constraints for early- and late-born individuals may explain why early-born offspring have a higher probability to recruit as a breeding bird. Climate change-associated advancements of avian egg-lay dates, which in turn advances hatch dates, can thus reduce the negative fitness consequences of reproducing late, thereby reducing the selection for early egg-laying migratory birds.

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