Spatial Behaviour and Habitat use of First-Year BluethroatsLuscinia svecicaStopping over at Coastal Marshes during the Autumn Migration Period

Spatial behaviour and habitat selection at stopover sites have a strong influence on the foraging and fuelling performance of migrating birds and hence are important aspects of stopover ecology. The aim of this study was to analyse the spatial behaviour and habitat use of reed warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus during the autumn migration. We used radio tracking data from reed warblers surveyed at a stopover site in northern Iberia and assigned to three different groups: (1) local adult birds which were still at their breeding site, (2) migrating first-year birds (originating from beyond Iberian peninsula) and (3) migrating adult birds. Overall, migrating first-year birds tended to have larger home ranges than both local and migrating adults and to move more widely in the study area. They also showed lower fat deposition rates than adults. The proportion of habitats in home ranges (reed-beds and tidal flats being the most abundant habitats) was similar amongst groups. The spatial distribution and habitat use of organisms have been theorised to follow an ideal-free or ideal-despotic distribution. However, according to our results, other complex underlying mechanisms may play an important role in shaping the spatial behaviour of birds at stopover sites.

Download Full-text

Sora ( Porzana carolina ) autumn migration habitat use

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.171664 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 171664 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Auriel M. V. Fournier ◽

Doreen C. Mengel ◽

David G. Krementz

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Wetland Management ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Soil Management ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Moist Soil ◽

Wading Birds ◽

Management Techniques ◽

Porzana Carolina ◽

Breeding Waterfowl

Palustrine wetland management across the USA is often conducted under a moist soil management framework aimed at providing energetic resources for non-breeding waterfowl. Moist soil management techniques typically include seasonal water-level manipulations and mechanical soil disturbance to create conditions conducive to germination and growth of early successional, seed-producing wetland plants. The assumption is that providing stopover and wintering habitat for non-breeding waterfowl will also accommodate life-history needs of a broader suite of migratory waterbirds including shorebirds, wading birds and marsh birds. Although studies of wetlands provide some evidence to support this assumption for shorebirds and wading birds, there is less information on how other marshbirds respond. Sora ( Porzana carolina ) are a species of migratory rail that depend on wetlands year round as they migrate across North America. It is a species for which the consequences of wetland management decisions directed towards non-breeding waterfowl are unknown. We conducted nocturnal surveys on 10 public properties in Missouri, USA during autumn migration during 2012–2016 to examine sora habitat use in wetland impoundments managed to enhance the production of moist soil vegetation. We found a positive relationship with sora presence and mean water depth and annual moist soil vegetation; sora used, on average, deeper water than was available across surveyed impoundments and used locations with a higher percentage of annual moist soil vegetation than was available. We found a negative relationship with sora use and upland vegetation, woody vegetation and open water. We found sora using deeper water than have previously been reported for autumn migration, and that moist soil management techniques used on Missouri's intensively managed public wetland areas may be compatible with sora autumn migration stopover habitat requirements.

Download Full-text

Retrospective examination of habitat use by blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) using otolith microchemical methods

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2014-0206 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 72 (7) ◽

pp. 1073-1086 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Molly L. Payne Wynne ◽

Karen A. Wilson ◽

Karin E. Limburg

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Life Histories ◽

First Year ◽

Low Salinity ◽

Blueback Herring ◽

Alosa Aestivalis ◽

Sr:Ca Ratios ◽

Migratory Patterns ◽

Retrospective Examination ◽

Diadromous Species

Understanding the location and duration of habitat use by young fish is important for management and restoration efforts, but is largely unknown in anadromous species. We used otolith microchemistry and ambient water concentrations of Ca, Ba, Mn, and Sr to identify habitat use in the first year of growth for 131 returning adult blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis) collected in seven spawning runs along the coast of Maine, USA. Ambient Sr:Ca ratios were correlated with salinity and were used as primary indicators of habitat use. Results revealed variable individual migration histories with several discrete migratory patterns; some fish migrated into seawater well before the end of the first year, while the majority exhibited longer residency in freshwater or low salinity habitat. Total area of available habitats ranged from approximately 213 to 6053 ha fresh water and 204 to 3395 ha estuary. Residency in freshwater or low salinity habitats was positively correlated with extent of freshwater habitat (r = 0.37, P < 0.001). Results emphasize the importance of conserving a variety of habitat types to maintain variation in life histories and ensure plasticity in migratory behavior of diadromous species.

Download Full-text

LASIURINE BATS IN NOVA SCOTIA

Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science (NSIS) ◽

10.15273/pnsis.v46i2.4056 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Zoe Lucas ◽

Andrew Hebda

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Migration Period ◽

Lasiurus Borealis ◽

Lasiurus Cinereus ◽

Hoary Bat ◽

Lasionycteris Noctivagans

Three lasiurine bat species, Lasionycteris noctivagans (Silver-hairedBat), Lasiurus cinereus (Hoary Bat), and Lasiurus borealis (Red Bat),have been recorded in inland, coastal, and offshore locations as of NovaScotia. Although these records occurred over a century, 70% are from themid-1990s or later, largely because of research in mainland Nova Scotia,and increased interest on Sable Island. The 65 records presented hereinclude 11, 25, and 29 for Silver-haired, Hoary, and Red bats, respectively,of which 31 are previously unpublished. Seventy-seven percent of recordsare from August through November, the autumn migration period forlasiurine bats. These observations suggest that most autumn occurrencesof these species in Nova Scotia are not extralimital, but are part of normalmigratory patterns in the province.

Download Full-text

Circadian and circannual programmes in avian migration

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.199.1.39 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 199 (1) ◽

pp. 39-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

E Gwinner

Keyword(s):

Migratory Birds ◽

Circadian System ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Temporal Orientation ◽

First Year ◽

Biological Clocks ◽

Nocturnal Activity ◽

Migratory Activity ◽

Migrating Birds ◽

Relevant Factors

In migratory birds, endogenous daily (circadian) and annual (circannual) rhythms serve as biological clocks that provide the major basis for their temporal orientation. Circannual rhythms are responsible for the initiation of migration both in autumn and spring. This function of timing migrations is particularly important for birds that spend the winter close to the equator where the environment is too constant or irregular to provide accurate timing cues. In addition, circannual rhythms produce programmes that determine both the temporal and the spatial course of migration. In Sylvia warblers, the time programmes controlling autumn migration are organized in a species- or population-specific manner. It has been proposed that, in first-year migrants, the time programme for autumn migration plays a major role in determining migratory distance, thus providing the vector component in a mechanism of vector navigation. It is not yet clear, however, whether this programme does indeed determine migratory distance or whether it only provides the temporal framework within which other factors determine how far a bird flies. Evidence against the first alternative comes from findings indicating that migratory activity can be drastically modified by a constellation of rather specific, but highly relevant, factors and that the resulting changes in migratory activity are not compensated by subsequent increases or decreases of migratory activity. In normally day-active but nocturnally migrating birds, circannual signals cause alterations in the circadian system leading to the development of nocturnal activity. Although the nature of these signals is unknown, there is evidence that changes in the diurnal pattern of melatonin secretion by the pineal gland are associated with, and possibly causally involved in, the waxing and waning of nocturnal activity. These changes in the melatonin pattern presumably also affect general synchronization properties of the circadian system to Zeitgebers in such a way that circadian rhythms adjust faster to new conditions after long transmeridian flights.

Download Full-text

Common KingfishersAlcedo atthisalong the Coast of Northern Iberia during the Autumn Migration Period

Ardea ◽

10.5253/078.098.0205 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 98 (2) ◽

pp. 161-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Juan Arizaga ◽

Agustín Mendiburu ◽

Daniel Alonso ◽

Juan F. Cuadrado ◽

Jose I. Jauregi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autumn Migration ◽

Migration Period

Download Full-text

Habitat Use by Sympatric Wild and Domestic Herbivores in an African Savanna Woodland: The Influence of Cattle Spatial Behaviour

Journal of Applied Ecology ◽

10.2307/2404987 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 589 ◽

Cited By ~ 81

Author(s):

Herve Fritz ◽

Michel De Garine-Wichatitsky ◽

Georges Letessier

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Spatial Behaviour ◽

African Savanna ◽

Savanna Woodland

Download Full-text

The familiar area hypothesis and movement patterns of wild forest reindeer in Karelia, Northern Europe

Rangifer ◽

10.7557/2.6.2.652 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 235 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

E. Pulliainen ◽

P. I. Danilov ◽

K. Heikura ◽

E. Erkinaro ◽

S. Sulkava ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Small Groups ◽

Rangifer Tarandus ◽

Movement Patterns ◽

Spring Migration ◽

Exploratory Behaviour ◽

Autumn Migration ◽

Northern Europe ◽

Migration Routes ◽

Migration Period ◽

Restricted Area

The relevance of the familiar area hypothesis to the behaviour of the wild forest reindeer (Rangifer tarandus fennicus Lönnb.) was studied in a Fenno-Soviet project by radio and field tracking of these ungulates in Karelia, Northern Europe, in 1978 - 1985. This subpopulation (500 - 600 exx.) has a tradition of overwintering in a restricted area around Lake Lentua (ca. 1000 km2). The spring migration period is shorter in length than the autumn migration. The migration routes are generally the same in autumn and spring, although exceptions occur, indicating exploratory behaviour. The large winter herds disband into small groups or lone individuals for the summertime, when this subpopulation is spread over a much wider area (ca. 5400 km2). It is concluded that the observations made support the familiar area hypothesis in all essential points.

Download Full-text