1
|
Vansteelant WMG, Gangoso L, Bouten W, Viana DS, Figuerola J. Adaptive drift and barrier-avoidance by a fly-forage migrant along a climate-driven flyway. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2021; 9:37. [PMID: 34253264 PMCID: PMC8276455 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-021-00272-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Route choice and travel performance of fly-forage migrants are partly driven by large-scale habitat availability, but it remains unclear to what extent wind support through large-scale wind regimes moulds their migratory behaviour. We aimed to determine to what extent a trans-equatorial fly-forage migrant engages in adaptive drift through distinct wind regimes and biomes across Africa. The Inter-tropical Front (ITF) marks a strong and seasonally shifting climatic boundary at the thermal equator, and we assessed whether migratory detours were associated with this climatic feature. Furthermore, we sought to disentangle the influence of wind and biome on daily, regional and seasonal travel performance. METHODS We GPS-tracked 19 adult Eleonora's falcons Falco eleonorae from the westernmost population on the Canary Islands across 39 autumn and 36 spring migrations to and from Madagascar. Tracks were annotated with wind data to assess the falcons' orientation behaviour and the wind support they achieved in each season and distinct biomes. We further tested whether falcon routes across the Sahel were correlated with the ITF position, and how realized wind support and biome affect daily travel times, distances and speeds. RESULTS Changes in orientation behaviour across Africa's biomes were associated with changes in prevailing wind fields. Falcons realized higher wind support along their detours than was available along the shortest possible route by drifting through adverse autumn wind fields, but compromised wind support while detouring through supportive spring wind fields. Movements across the Sahel-Sudan zone were strongly associated to the ITF position in autumn, but were more individually variable in spring. Realized wind support was an important driver of daily travel speeds and distances, in conjunction with regional wind-independent variation in daily travel time budgets. CONCLUSIONS Although daily travel time budgets of falcons vary independently from wind, their daily travel performance is strongly affected by orientation-dependent wind support. Falcons thereby tend to drift to minimize or avoid headwinds through opposing wind fields and over ecological barriers, while compensating through weak or supportive wind fields and over hospitable biomes. The ITF may offer a climatic leading line to fly-forage migrants in terms of both flight and foraging conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wouter M G Vansteelant
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC. Cartuja TA-10, Edificio I, Calle Américo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Sevilla, Spain.
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Laura Gangoso
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC. Cartuja TA-10, Edificio I, Calle Américo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Sevilla, Spain
- Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. Faculty of Biology, Complutense University of Madrid, C/ José Antonio Novais 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Willem Bouten
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Duarte S Viana
- German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Deutscher Platz 5e, Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jordi Figuerola
- Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC. Cartuja TA-10, Edificio I, Calle Américo Vespucio, s/n, 41092, Sevilla, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Lopez-Ricaurte L, Vansteelant WMG, Hernández-Pliego J, García-Silveira D, Bermejo-Bermejo A, Casado S, Cecere JG, de la Puente J, Garcés-Toledano F, Martínez-Dalmau J, Ortega A, Rodríguez-Moreno B, Rubolini D, Sarà M, Bustamante J. Barrier crossings and winds shape daily travel schedules and speeds of a flight generalist. Sci Rep 2021; 11:12044. [PMID: 34103580 PMCID: PMC8187636 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91378-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
External factors such as geography and weather strongly affect bird migration influencing daily travel schedules and flight speeds. For strictly thermal-soaring migrants, weather explains most seasonal and regional differences in speed. Flight generalists, which alternate between soaring and flapping flight, are expected to be less dependent on weather, and daily travel schedules are likely to be strongly influenced by geography and internal factors such as sex. We GPS-tracked the migration of 70 lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) to estimate the relative importance of external factors (wind, geography), internal factors (sex) and season, and the extent to which they explain variation in travel speed, distance, and duration. Our results show that geography and tailwind are important factors in explaining variation in daily travel schedules and speeds. We found that wind explained most of the seasonal differences in travel speed. In both seasons, lesser kestrels sprinted across ecological barriers and frequently migrated during the day and night. Conversely, they travelled at a slower pace and mainly during the day over non-barriers. Our results highlighted that external factors far outweighed internal factors and season in explaining variation in migratory behaviour of a flight generalist, despite its ability to switch between flight modes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lina Lopez-Ricaurte
- Departament of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), C/Américo Vespucio 26, E-41092, Seville, Spain.
| | - Wouter M G Vansteelant
- Departament of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), C/Américo Vespucio 26, E-41092, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Daniel García-Silveira
- Departament of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), C/Américo Vespucio 26, E-41092, Seville, Spain
| | - Ana Bermejo-Bermejo
- Bird Monitoring Unit, SEO/BirdLife, C/Melquiades Biencinto 34, 28053, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Jacopo G Cecere
- Area Avifauna Migratrice, Istituto Superiore Per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Via Ca' Fornacetta 9, 40064, Ozzano dell'Emilia BO, Italy
| | - Javier de la Puente
- Bird Monitoring Unit, SEO/BirdLife, C/Melquiades Biencinto 34, 28053, Madrid, Spain
| | | | | | | | | | - Diego Rubolini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Maurizio Sarà
- Dipartimento STEBICEF, Università Degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 18, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Javier Bustamante
- Departament of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), C/Américo Vespucio 26, E-41092, Seville, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Vidal-Mateo J, Mellone U, López-López P, La Puente JD, García-Ripollés C, Bermejo A, Urios V. Wind effects on the migration routes of trans-Saharan soaring raptors: geographical, seasonal, and interspecific variation. Curr Zool 2016; 62:89-97. [PMID: 29491895 PMCID: PMC5804231 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zow008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Wind is among the most important environmental factors shaping birds' migration patterns. Birds must deal with the displacement caused by crosswinds and their behavior can vary according to different factors such as flight mode, migratory season, experience, and distance to goal areas. Here we analyze the relationship between wind and migratory movements of three raptor species which migrate by soaring-gliding flight: Egyptian vulture Neophron percnopterus, booted eagle Aquila pennata, and short-toed snake eagle Circaetus gallicus. We analyzed daily migratory segments (i.e., the path joining consecutive roosting locations) using data recorded by GPS satellite telemetry. Daily movements of Egyptian vultures and booted eagles were significantly affected by tailwinds during both autumn and spring migrations. In contrast, daily movements of short-toed eagles were only significantly affected by tailwinds during autumn migration. The effect of crosswinds was significant in all cases. Interestingly, Egyptian vultures and booted eagles showed latitudinal differences in their behavior: both species compensated more frequently at the onset of autumn migration and, at the end of the season when reaching their wintering areas, the proportion of drift segments was higher. In contrast, there was a higher drift at the onset of spring migration and a higher compensation at the end. Our results highlight the effect of wind patterns on the migratory routes of soaring raptors, with different outcomes in relation to species, season, and latitude, ultimately shaping the loop migration patterns that current tracking techniques are showing to be widespread in many long distance migrants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Javier Vidal-Mateo
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, University of Alicante, Apdo. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain and
| | - Ugo Mellone
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, University of Alicante, Apdo. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain and
| | - Pascual López-López
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, University of Alicante, Apdo. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain and
| | - Javier De La Puente
- SEO/BirdLife, Área de Estudio y Seguimiento de Aves, C/ Melquiades Biencinto, 34, E-28053, Madrid, Spain
| | - Clara García-Ripollés
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, University of Alicante, Apdo. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain and
| | - Ana Bermejo
- SEO/BirdLife, Área de Estudio y Seguimiento de Aves, C/ Melquiades Biencinto, 34, E-28053, Madrid, Spain
| | - Vicente Urios
- Vertebrates Zoology Research Group, Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, University of Alicante, Apdo. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain and
| |
Collapse
|