Migration, moult and climate change in barn swallows Hirundo rustica in South Africa

Møller, Anders Pape; Nuttall, Rick; Piper, S. E.; Szép, Tibor; Vickers, Edward J.

doi:10.3354/cr01005

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Because most African moulting species (i.e. house martin) do not start the northward migration until the moult is complete (Cramp 1988;Møller et al 2011;Turner and Rose 1989), a lower speed in feather growth could lead to a delay in timing of migration (Marra et al 1998) and, consequently, a late arrival and start of reproduction in Europe . We found that the rate of feather growth and blood parasite infection in Africa was associated with poorer breeding performance of house martins in their European breeding quarters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Malaria infection and feather growth rate predict reproductive success in house martins

et al. 2012

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Carry-over effects take place when events occurring in one season influence individual performance in a subsequent season. Blood parasites (e.g. Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) have strong negative effects on the body condition of their hosts and could slow the rate of feather growth on the wintering grounds. In turn, these winter moult costs could reduce reproductive success in the following breeding season. In house martins Delichon urbica captured and studied at a breeding site in Europe, we used ptilochronology to measure growth rate of tail feathers moulted on the winter range in Africa, and assessed infection status of blood parasites transmitted on the wintering grounds. We found a negative association between haemosporidian parasite infection status and inferred growth rate of tail feathers. A low feather growth rate and blood parasite infections were related to a delay in laying date in their European breeding quarters. In addition, clutch size and the number of fledglings were negatively related to a delayed laying date and blood parasite infection. These results stress the importance of blood parasites and feather growth rate as potentially mechanisms driving carry-over effects to explain fitness differences in wild populations of migratory birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Malaria infection and feather growth rate predict reproductive success in house martins

et al. 2012

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“…Amongst passerines in France, for example, species with the broadest ecological and thermal niches, shortest mean migration distances and largest brains were most able to adjust their phenology, indicating that specialists and long distance migrants are more at risk [84]. The migration of Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica from southern Africa appears to be constrained by the need to complete their moult before leaving their non-breeding grounds [27], [85]. For highly specialised species, it would be useful to investigate whether individuals use environmental clues to identify optimal breeding times, or whether the timing of breeding is affected more by constraints before breeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenological Changes in the Southern Hemisphere

et al. 2013

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Current evidence of phenological responses to recent climate change is substantially biased towards northern hemisphere temperate regions. Given regional differences in climate change, shifts in phenology will not be uniform across the globe, and conclusions drawn from temperate systems in the northern hemisphere might not be applicable to other regions on the planet. We conduct the largest meta-analysis to date of phenological drivers and trends among southern hemisphere species, assessing 1208 long-term datasets from 89 studies on 347 species. Data were mostly from Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), South America and the Antarctic/subantarctic, and focused primarily on plants and birds. This meta-analysis shows an advance in the timing of spring events (with a strong Australian data bias), although substantial differences in trends were apparent among taxonomic groups and regions. When only statistically significant trends were considered, 82% of terrestrial datasets and 42% of marine datasets demonstrated an advance in phenology. Temperature was most frequently identified as the primary driver of phenological changes; however, in many studies it was the only climate variable considered. When precipitation was examined, it often played a key role but, in contrast with temperature, the direction of phenological shifts in response to precipitation variation was difficult to predict a priori. We discuss how phenological information can inform the adaptive capacity of species, their resilience, and constraints on autonomous adaptation. We also highlight serious weaknesses in past and current data collection and analyses at large regional scales (with very few studies in the tropics or from Africa) and dramatic taxonomic biases. If accurate predictions regarding the general effects of climate change on the biology of organisms are to be made, data collection policies focussing on targeting data-deficient regions and taxa need to be financially and logistically supported.

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“…For example, birds may be unable to leave their wintering grounds before the annual moult of flight feathers has been completed (e.g. Rubolini et al 2005, Møller et al 2011. If the timing of the annual moult, or any other constraint affecting departure date, can only be adjusted with difficulty, and if fitness payoffs of early arrival to the breeding grounds in time to exploit peak food resources for reproduction are high, then an optimal strategy for choosing a wintering area would be to winter in the most profitable place allowing for an early arrival to the breeding grounds in order to achieve higher breeding success.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and the long-term northward shift in the African wintering range of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica

Ambrosini¹,

Rubolini²,

Møller³

et al. 2011

Clim. Res.

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Recent, unprecedentedly rapid climate change has frequently been invoked as the cause of changes in the phenology of bird migration as well as population decline. Birds would be expected to respond to milder climatic conditions at their breeding grounds by reducing the length of their migration. Here, we exploit the largest ringing recovery database available for a longdistance migrant passerine bird, the barn swallow Hirundo rustica, spanning 1912−2008 and including recoveries from sub-Saharan Africa, to show that this species has shifted its wintering grounds northwards at a rate of 3 to 9 km yr −1 . This shift occurred consistently in the 2 geographical clusters of barn swallows that could be identified on the basis of their migratory connectivity and could bedetected after accounting for possible differential changes in recovery probability among geographical areas. Analyses of trends in climatic conditions at the wintering grounds, based on time series of rainfall and temperature anomalies, showed that this northward shift should have caused a progressively larger proportion of barn swallows to winter in drier or warmer areas, i.e. where primary productivity is lower and therefore ecological conditions for wintering are less favourable. This shift, which may have contributed to the general decline in breeding barn swallow populations, may be due to the combined effects of selection for earlier arrival at the breeding grounds because of milder climatic conditions in the breeding areas, and constraints in other stages of the annual life cycle (e.g. timing of the annual moult) that prevent earlier departure from the wintering grounds.

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Migration, moult and climate change in barn swallows Hirundo rustica in South Africa

Cited by 18 publications

References 15 publications

Malaria infection and feather growth rate predict reproductive success in house martins

Malaria infection and feather growth rate predict reproductive success in house martins

Phenological Changes in the Southern Hemisphere

Climate change and the long-term northward shift in the African wintering range of the barn swallow Hirundo rustica

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