The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration
Abstract Birds migrating different distances experience different temporal, energetic, physiological, and physical constraints throughout migration, which is reflected in their migration strategy. Consequently, we predict different behavioral decisions to similar environmental cues between short‐ an...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10223 |
| _version_ | 1797357907485917184 |
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| author | Georg Rüppel Ommo Hüppop Heiko Schmaljohann Vera Brust |
| author_facet | Georg Rüppel Ommo Hüppop Heiko Schmaljohann Vera Brust |
| author_sort | Georg Rüppel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Birds migrating different distances experience different temporal, energetic, physiological, and physical constraints throughout migration, which is reflected in their migration strategy. Consequently, we predict different behavioral decisions to similar environmental cues between short‐ and long‐distance migrants, which has been documented for autumn migration. Here, we focus on the question whether trade‐off decisions regarding departure, routing, and landing when alternating between migratory endurance flights and stopovers also differ during spring migration. As early arrivals at the breeding grounds should be ultimately favored regardless of migration distance, selection may favor more similar behavioral decisions in spring than in autumn. We radio‐tagged short‐ and long‐distance migratory songbirds at stopover sites along the German North Sea coast during spring and automatically tracked their migratory behavior using a large‐scale network of receiver stations. Once departed, birds could either cross the sea or detour along the coast. We corrected for spatially biased detection data, using a hierarchical multistate model to assess how birds respond to variation in environmental conditions in their day‐to‐day departure decisions and route selection. The day‐to‐day departure probability was higher in long‐distance migrants independently of the routing decision. Irrespective of migration distance, all species more likely departed under light winds and rainless conditions, while the influence of air pressure change and relative humidity was species‐specific. By accounting for detection probabilities, we estimated that about half of all individuals of each species crossed the sea but did not find differences between short‐ and long‐distance migrants. Offshore flights were more likely when winds blew offshore and began earlier within the night compared with onshore flights. Our results suggest that selection more similarly affects birds of different migration distances in spring than in autumn. These findings put the focus toward how ultimate mechanisms may shape departure and routing decisions differently between migration seasons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:52:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-433a0132b08a42aeb56a009f62aafe2a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:52:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-433a0132b08a42aeb56a009f62aafe2a2024-01-11T02:50:01ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582023-07-01137n/an/a10.1002/ece3.10223The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migrationGeorg Rüppel0Ommo Hüppop1Heiko Schmaljohann2Vera Brust3Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven GermanyInstitute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven GermanyInstitute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven GermanyInstitute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland” Wilhelmshaven GermanyAbstract Birds migrating different distances experience different temporal, energetic, physiological, and physical constraints throughout migration, which is reflected in their migration strategy. Consequently, we predict different behavioral decisions to similar environmental cues between short‐ and long‐distance migrants, which has been documented for autumn migration. Here, we focus on the question whether trade‐off decisions regarding departure, routing, and landing when alternating between migratory endurance flights and stopovers also differ during spring migration. As early arrivals at the breeding grounds should be ultimately favored regardless of migration distance, selection may favor more similar behavioral decisions in spring than in autumn. We radio‐tagged short‐ and long‐distance migratory songbirds at stopover sites along the German North Sea coast during spring and automatically tracked their migratory behavior using a large‐scale network of receiver stations. Once departed, birds could either cross the sea or detour along the coast. We corrected for spatially biased detection data, using a hierarchical multistate model to assess how birds respond to variation in environmental conditions in their day‐to‐day departure decisions and route selection. The day‐to‐day departure probability was higher in long‐distance migrants independently of the routing decision. Irrespective of migration distance, all species more likely departed under light winds and rainless conditions, while the influence of air pressure change and relative humidity was species‐specific. By accounting for detection probabilities, we estimated that about half of all individuals of each species crossed the sea but did not find differences between short‐ and long‐distance migrants. Offshore flights were more likely when winds blew offshore and began earlier within the night compared with onshore flights. Our results suggest that selection more similarly affects birds of different migration distances in spring than in autumn. These findings put the focus toward how ultimate mechanisms may shape departure and routing decisions differently between migration seasons.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10223bird migrationdeparture decisiondeparture timingmultistate modelradio‐telemetrysea crossing |
| spellingShingle | Georg Rüppel Ommo Hüppop Heiko Schmaljohann Vera Brust The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration Ecology and Evolution bird migration departure decision departure timing multistate model radio‐telemetry sea crossing |
| title | The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration |
| title_full | The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration |
| title_fullStr | The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration |
| title_full_unstemmed | The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration |
| title_short | The urge to breed early: Similar responses to environmental conditions in short‐ and long‐distance migrants during spring migration |
| title_sort | urge to breed early similar responses to environmental conditions in short and long distance migrants during spring migration |
| topic | bird migration departure decision departure timing multistate model radio‐telemetry sea crossing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10223 |
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