Using GPS tracking and stable multi-isotopes for estimating habitat use and winter range in Palearctic ospreys

Abstract

We used both satellite tracking and carbon, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotopic analysis (SIA) to infer wintering ecology and habitat use of the Corsican osprey Pandion haliaetus population. A control sample of feathers from 75 individuals was collected within the osprey’s northern hemisphere breeding range, to assess the SIA variability across habitat types. An experimental set of SIA on feathers of 18 Corsican adults was examined to infer wintering ground locations and habitat types used during the non-breeding period. We calibrated the SIA using GPS/GSM tracks of 12 Mediterranean adults’ movements as wintering site references. We found 50% of individuals were resident and the other half migrated. Ospreys spent the winter at temperate latitudes and showed a high plasticity in habitat selection spread over the Mediterranean basin (marine bays, coastal lagoons/marshland, inland freshwater sites). Complementary to GPS tracking, SIA is, at a broad geographical scale, a reliable method to determine whether ospreys overwinter in a habitat different from that of their breeding area. This study proved that the integration of SIA and GPS/GSM tracking techniques was effective at overcoming the intrinsic limits of each method and achieving greater information for basic ecological studies of migratory birds in aquatic environments.

Feather stable isotopes (δ2Hf and δ13Cf) identify the Sub-Saharan wintering grounds of turtle doves from Europe

“…A longitudinal gradient of non-breeding African areas, with western and central regions being occupied by European populations and the eastern region being occupied by Asian populations, has also been observed in other migrating species whose breeding distribution ranges from western Europe to middle and eastern Asia (Trierweiler et al 2014;Sarà et al 2019). However, to confirm whether Asian turtle dove populations winter in eastern sub-Saharan Africa, stable isotope studies are similar to our approach and ideally combined with tracking studies (e.g., Jiguet et al 2019;Monti et al 2021) are needed to investigate their flyways and wintering destinations.…”