Autumn migration and orientation of the Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) in northern Italy

Spina, Fernando; E, Bezzi

doi:10.1007/bf01639819

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…A pattern with heavier adults at sites close to ecological barriers during autumn migration has been described several times both in the Eurasian-African and the American bird migration system (Veiga, 1986;Spina & Bezzi, 1990;Woodrey & Moore, 1997; Yosef & Chernetsov, 2004). This indicates that, at least in some species, age-related migration strategies exist in front of large ecological barriers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

Barboutis

Henshaw

Kullberg

et al. 2014

Preprint

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Fuelling in front of the barrier -are there age based behavioral diffrences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?Garden Warblers Sylvia borin were studied during autumn stopover in Crete before crossing the barrier of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara desert. Birds followed with transmitters show extensive stopover periods, which were longer in first-year birds, 16 days, compared with adult birds, 14 days. The distribution of body masses from birds trapped in fig trees were used to estimate the departure body mass and the results found indicate that both age categories on average depart with a fuel load close to 100% of lean body mass. The movement of transmitter birds shows differences between first-year and adult birds. Adult birds move further away from the release site and many also left the study area. Several were found settled outside the study area, up to 17 km away, indicating that they regularly make longer stopover movements. It is suggested that this might be a result of that they return to a place where they stayed during an earlier migration. It was shown that stopover site fidelity exists and nine garden warblers were recaptured in the area during a following autumn. The results found high-lights the importance of stopover areas close to the Sahara desert.PeerJ PrePrints | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.244v1 | CC-BY 3.0

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

Barboutis

Henshaw

Kullberg

et al. 2014

Preprint

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“…The importance of food availability at stopover sites is further shown by the findings that: (1) birds were more likely to stay at sites where food was plentiful, and move on rapidly from sites where food was scarce (Bibby and Green 1981;Spina and Bezzi 1990;Ottick and Dierschke 2003); but (2) when they stayed, fuel deposition rates were often correlated with spatial and temporal variation in food supplies (Fig. 3;Cherry 1982;Bibby et al 1976;Bibby and Green 1981;Piersma 1987;Prop and Deerenberg 1991); (3) mean stopover durations were inversely correlated with food supplies, as birds put on weight more slowly where food was scarce than where food was abundant (Piersma 1987;Russell et al 1992); (4) birds that arrived at particular sites with low body reserves stayed longer than those that arrived at the same sites with higher reserves (Dolnik and Blyumental 1967;Cherry 1982;Bairlein 1985;Petterson and Hasselquist 1985;Biebach 1985;Biebach et al 1986;Moore and Kerlinger 1987;Dunn et al 1988;Serie and Sharp 1989;Loria and Moore 1990;Ellegren 1991;van Eerden et al 1991;Kuenzi et al 1991;Morris et al 1996;Yong and Moore 1997); (5) some populations could not accumulate fuel for spring migration until food availability increased in some way (for whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, see Zwarts 1990); (6) fuel deposition rates declined in weather conditions expected to reduce feeding rates (Schaub and Jenni 2001b); (7) the provision of supplementary food to migrants in the field led to increased rates of fuel deposition compared to rates in unfed birds (for bluethroat Luscinia svecica, see Lindstro¨m and Alerstam 1992; for greater whitethroat Sylvia communis, see Fransson 1998; for robin Erithacus rubecula, see Danhardt and Lindstro¨m 2001; for garde...…”

Section: Food Supplies and Fattening Ratesmentioning

confidence: 88%

Can conditions experienced during migration limit the population levels of birds?

2006

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Populations of migratory birds are usually considered to be limited by conditions in breeding or wintering areas, but some might be limited by conditions encountered on migration. This could occur at stopover sites where competition for restricted food supplies can reduce subsequent survival or breeding success, or during the flights themselves, when adverse weather can occasionally kill large numbers of individuals. Competition for food could act in a density-dependent manner and help to regulate populations, whereas weather effects are more likely to act in a density-independent manner. The evidence for these views is explored in this paper. When preparing for migration, birds must normally obtain more food per day than usual, in order to accumulate the body reserves that fuel their flights. Birds often concentrate in large numbers at particular stopover sites, where food can become scarce, thus affecting migratory performance. Rates of weight gain, departure weights, and stopover durations often correlate with food supplies at stopover sites, sometimes influencing the subsequent survival and reproductive success of individuals, which can in turn affect subsequent breeding numbers. Many studies have provided evidence for interference and depletion competition at stopover sites, relatively few for migration conditions influencing the subsequent breeding or survival of individuals, and even fewer for effects on subsequent breeding numbers. Migrants in flight occasionally suffer substantial mortality in storms, especially over water, sometimes involving many thousands of birds at a time. Other mass mortalities have resulted from atypical 'winter-like' weather, occurring soon after the arrival of summer migrants in their breeding areas or just before their departure in autumn. Again, many thousands of birds at a time have been killed in such incidents, causing reductions of 30-90% in local breeding densities. In some bird species, migration-related events can at times have substantial effects on the year-to-year changes in breeding population levels. Nonetheless, the difficulties involved in investigating migrating birds at different points on their migration routes have so far limited the number of studies on the influence of events during migration periods on population levels.

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“…These forces may facilitate the observed increase as the distances between stopover sites are increasing and/or the wintering grounds are becoming more arid [67]. The direction of autumn migration of Sedge Warblers breeding north of the Carpathians is almost 180° [35]; birds migrate through Italy [68] and possibly are crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara with non-stop flights. The extent of the Sahara is increasing continuously [60], resulting in selection forces for longer-winged individuals.…”

Section: Changes In Wing Lengthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in migration phenology and biometrical traits of Reed, Marsh and Sedge Warblers

Kovács¹,

Fehérvári

Nagy

et al. 2011

Open Life Sciences

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Global environmental processes like climate change could severely affect population level migratory behaviour of long range migrant birds. We analyzed changes in migration phenology and biometrics of three closely-related long-distance migrant Acrocephalus species. We used the records of 12 063 Sedge, 12 913 Reed, and 5 409 Marsh Warblers caught and ringed between 1989–2009, at a Hungarian stopover site. Quantile regressions were used to analyse the changes in spring and autumn migration phenology. Median spring arrival date of Sedge and Reed Warblers shifted 6.5 and 7.5 days earlier, respectively. Autumn arrival of all species shifted one (Reed and Marsh Warblers) or two (Sedge Warbler) weeks later. Mean body mass of adult Reed and Marsh Warblers decreased in spring (by 0.3 and 0.2 grams, respectively) and in autumn (by 0.8 and 0.2 grams, respectively) while body mass of adult Sedge Warblers decreased only in autumn (by 0.4 grams). Mean wing length of all species increased significantly (range of change: 0.6–1 mm). Despite the fact that the studied species are closely related, all three have remarkably different migration strategies. However, similar patterns can be observed in the studied parameters, indicating that global processes may have general effects on these species, albeit through markedly different mechanisms.

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Autumn migration and orientation of the Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) in northern Italy

Cited by 26 publications

References 10 publications

Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

Fuelling in front of the barrier - are there age based behavioral differences in Garden Warblers Sylvia borin?

Can conditions experienced during migration limit the population levels of birds?

Changes in migration phenology and biometrical traits of Reed, Marsh and Sedge Warblers

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