Migration routes and timing of Mountain Plovers revealed by geolocators

Abstract

Understanding the migratory movements and habitats used during the annual cycle of migrants is essential to developing comprehensive conservation strategies. Mountain Plovers (Charadrius montanus) are short‐distance migrants listed as a species of conservation concern in many states across their range, however, little is known about their migratory ecology. We used data from geolocators to describe the first direct estimates of migratory routes and migration schedules for Mountain Plovers breeding in Phillips County, Montana. We attached geolocators to 36 Mountain Plovers in 2010–2012 and recovered five (13.9%; three males and two females). Four of five Mountain Plovers in our study overwintered in Texas, and one overwintered in Arizona. Migration routes were relatively linear, with the exception of one plover that moved south and then west to reach its winter range in Arizona. Two plovers left breeding areas in mid‐July and the other three left in late September. All plovers used stopover sites near either eastern Colorado or southwest Kansas. Plovers that departed earlier used stopover sites for ~100 d, whereas those that left later used them for ~35 d. All plovers in our study arrived in wintering areas by early November and departed by late March. Our results suggest that eastern Colorado and southwest Kansas are important stopover areas during migration, and highlight the need to better understand how these locations support non‐breeding plovers.

Disease and weather induce rapid shifts in a rangeland ecosystem mediated by a keystone species (Cynomys ludovicianus)

“…Direct threats from disease and unreliable food resources make these systems untenable for black‐footed ferret reintroductions (Matchett et al, 2010). Furthermore, unreliable prey resources destabilize predator communities (MacArthur, 1955; Petchey, 2000), and the lack of consistent habitat availability may negatively impact avian species with high site fidelity, such as mountain plovers and burrowing owls (Crowley et al, 2019; Graul, 1973; Klute et al, 2003; Pierce et al, 2017; Skrade & Dinsmore, 2010). This may lead to increased time spent moving through the landscape or prospecting (Ponchon et al, 2013) and delayed breeding, or to the selection of suboptimal habitat and reduced reproductive output (Battin, 2004), all of which could be compounded with the fact that much of the remaining landscape is highly fragmented by agriculture, energy extraction, and other human land uses.…”

Migration Patterns of Upland Sandpipers in the Western Hemisphere

“…The migratory shorebirds that breed or stage in native grasslands of North America include both short-distance migrants that remain on the continent (Page et al, 2014;Pierce et al, 2017;Ruthrauff et al, 2019), and long-distance migrants that travel to South America (Blanco and López-Lanús, 2008;Penner et al, 2015;Jahn et al, 2017). In the Western Hemisphere, intercontinental shorebird migrants must cross major ecological barriers including the water barriers of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, high elevation terrain in the Andes mountains, and unsuitable habitats including the vast tropical forests of the Amazon Basin (Bayly et al, 2018).…”