What to do when stopping over: behavioral decisions of a migrating songbird during stopover are dictated by initial change in their body condition and mediated by key environmental conditions

Smith, Adam D.; McWilliams, Scott R.

doi:10.1093/beheco/aru148

Cited by 55 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 97 publications

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“…Although staying in traffic noise has a cost, the energetic outlay for individuals to leave a given site might be even greater. Birds with low body condition are less likely to embark on migratory journeys than those in good condition, and depending on the suitability of surrounding habitat, it may not be worth the risk to disperse once landed (25). We cannot differentiate whether the lower BCI we documented in traffic noise is the result of (i) higher body condition birds leaving the population or (ii) birds losing body condition over the duration of noise exposure.…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 83%

“…We cannot differentiate whether the lower BCI we documented in traffic noise is the result of (i) higher body condition birds leaving the population or (ii) birds losing body condition over the duration of noise exposure. We saw both reduced mean body condition and reduced bird numbers, suggesting that at least some birds with the energetic stores to migrate chose to leave the site and escape the costs of remaining in noise (25).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 90%

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A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

Ware

McClure

Carlisle

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

208

172

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Decades of research demonstrate that roads impact wildlife and suggest traffic noise as a primary cause of population declines near roads. We created a "phantom road" using an array of speakers to apply traffic noise to a roadless landscape, directly testing the effect of noise alone on an entire songbird community during autumn migration. Thirty-one percent of the bird community avoided the phantom road. For individuals that stayed despite the noise, overall body condition decreased by a full SD and some species showed a change in ability to gain body condition when exposed to traffic noise during migratory stopover. We conducted complementary laboratory experiments that implicate foraging-vigilance behavior as one mechanism driving this pattern. Our results suggest that noise degrades habitat that is otherwise suitable, and that the presence of a species does not indicate the absence of an impact.traffic noise pollution | songbird migration | habitat degradation | foraging-vigilance trade-off | perceived predation risk H uman infrastructure shapes animal behaviors, distributions, and communities (1, 2). A meta-analysis of 49 datasets from across the globe found that bird populations decline within 1km of human infrastructure, including roads (2). Observational studies of birds near roads implicate traffic noise as a primary driver of these declines (3). Road ecology research has also shown negative correlations between traffic noise levels and songbird reproduction (4, 5). Birds that produce low frequency songs, likely masked by traffic noise, show the strongest avoidance of roads (6).There is now substantial evidence that anthropogenic noise has detrimental impacts on a variety of species (3, 7-10). For example, work in natural gas extraction fields has demonstrated that compressor station noise alters songbird breeding distribution and species richness (11-13). However, explicit experiments would help to further rule out other characteristics of infrastructure, such as visual disturbance, collisions, chemical pollution, and edge effects, which might be driving these patterns (3). In addition, although these studies implicate noise as a causal factor in population declines, many individuals remain despite noise exposure (3), but at what cost? Proposed causes of decreased fitness for birds in noise include song masking, interference with mate evaluation, nonrandom distribution of territorial individuals, disruption of parentchick communication, reduced foraging opportunities, and/or alterations in the foraging/vigilance trade-off (3, 4).Here we parse the independent role of traffic noise from other aspects of roads experimentally by playing traffic sounds in a roadless area, creating a 'phantom road'. We focus on birds during migratory stopover, because energy budgets are streamlined; foraging, vigilance, and rest dominate activity (14). To meet the amplified physiological needs of sustained nocturnal migratory flights, birds must increase foraging during periods of stopover while maintaining appropriate vigil...

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Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 90%

A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

Ware

McClure

Carlisle

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

208

172

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is clearly not the case that temperature alone is the sole cue that songbirds use when deciding whether to migrate or stopover. Birds are influenced by endogenous cues such as energy reserves (e.g., Schläfke 2013, Fusani et al 2009) and also respond to other external cues such as wind conditions (e.g., Schmaljohann 2015, Smith andMcWilliams 2014). Our results indicate that temperature itself is an additional cue that affects nocturnal migratory restlessness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

Experimental temperature manipulations alter songbird autumnal nocturnal migratory restlessness

et al. 2017

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Migrating birds may respond to a variety of environmental cues in order to time migration. During the migration season nocturnally migrating songbirds may migrate or stop-over at their current location, and when migrating they may vary the rate or distance of migration on any given night. It has long been known that a variety of weather-related factors including wind speed and direction, and temperature, are correlated with migration in free-living birds, however these variables are often correlated with each other. In this study we experimentally manipulated temperature to determine if it would directly modulate nocturnal migratory restlessness in songbirds. We experimentally manipulated temperature between 4, 14, and 24°C and monitored nocturnal migratory restlessness during autumn in white-throated sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis). White-throated sparrows are relatively shortdistance migrants with a prolonged autumnal migration, and we thus predicted they might be sensitive to weatherrelated cues when deciding whether to migrate or stopover. At warm temperatures (24°C) none of the birds exhibited migratory restlessness. The probability of exhibiting migratory restlessness, and the intensity of this restlessness (number of infra-red beam breaks) increased at cooler (14°C, 4°C) temperatures. These data support the hypothesis that one of the many factors that birds use when making behavioural decisions during migration is temperature, and that birds can respond to temperature directly independently of other weather-related cues.

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“…These options present the potential of an ecological mismatch if birds leave too 2 International Journal of Zoology early and arrive to breeding grounds before cold temperature subsides, or, alternatively, if they leave too late and, thus, miss reproductive opportunities [10]. Fall migration poses similar problems with respect to resources: those birds that arrive to stopover sites earlier have better choices among resources to refuel or breed, whereas those who arrive later may face depleting resources and harsher weather conditions [9,11]. The ability to be flexible around migration allows migrants to avoid harsh environmental conditions and take advantage of resources as they become available [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birds in New York State Have Altered Their Migration Timing and Are Experiencing Different Thermal Regimes While Breeding or on Stopover from 2010 to 2015

Pudalov

Ziatek

Jiménez

2017

International Journal of Zoology

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Migration represents a significant physiological challenge for birds, and increasing ambient temperatures due to global climate change may add to birds' physiological burden during migration. We analyzed migration timing in a central New York county and two counties in the Adirondack region by using data from the citizen science network, eBird, and correlating it with historical temperature data. Species of birds sighted in Central NY ( = 195) and the Adirondack region ( = 199) were categorized into year-round residents and one-and two-stopover groupings based on eBird observations. Using linear regressions, we looked at various relationships between temperature and variables relating to birds' migration across 2010-2015. Of the total 195 species used within this data in Central NY, 35 species showed some alteration in their migration timing or in the temperature regime they experienced while breeding or on migration stopover. In the Adirondack region, of the total 199 species used within this dataset, 43 species showed some alteration in their migration timing or experienced significantly colder or warmer temperatures while breeding or on migration stopover during 2010-2015. Additionally, many of the bird species affected by temperature changes in the state of New York and those that altered migration timing tended to be long-distance migrants.

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What to do when stopping over: behavioral decisions of a migrating songbird during stopover are dictated by initial change in their body condition and mediated by key environmental conditions

Cited by 55 publications

References 97 publications

A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

A phantom road experiment reveals traffic noise is an invisible source of habitat degradation

Experimental temperature manipulations alter songbird autumnal nocturnal migratory restlessness

Birds in New York State Have Altered Their Migration Timing and Are Experiencing Different Thermal Regimes While Breeding or on Stopover from 2010 to 2015

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