Wheatear migration behaviour of an alpine breeding population (Switzerland)-light-levels

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Date
2022-06-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1
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Citation
Meier CM, Rime Y, Liechti F. 2022. Wheatear migration behaviour of an alpine breeding population (Switzerland)-light-levels. Movebank Data Repository. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1
Abstract
The northern wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe has an almost circumpolar breeding distribution in the northern hemisphere, but all populations migrate to sub-Saharan Africa in winter. Currently, tracking data suggest two main access routes to the northern continents via the Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula. These routes would require detours for birds breeding in the European Alps. Our aim was to map the migration routes and determine annual schedules for birds breeding in Switzerland and Austria, using light level geolocators. We compared their migration patterns with birds from a lowland breeding population in Germany. Birds from the Alps cross the Mediterranean Sea directly heading straight to their non-breeding sites. In contrast, birds from Germany travelled further west via the Iberian Peninsula. While the German population initiated autumn migration relatively early, arrival on the wintering sites was nearly synchronous across the three populations. During spring migration, German birds arrived earlier at their breeding grounds than birds from the Alps. A comparison with the literature indicated that the breeding populations in the Alps use their own route and are among the latest to arrive in spring, showing resemblance to the phenology of Arctic breeding populations. Our results indicate that the annual cycle of Alps-breeding wheatears is influenced primarily by breeding ground conditions, and not solely by migration distance.
Keywords
animal movement,animal tracking,avian migration,light-level logger,geolocator,Oenanthe oenanthe,passerines,wheatear
Taxa
Sensors
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URI
https://datarepository.movebank.org/handle/10255/move.1460
BibTex
@misc{001/1_vp61g6gd/1,
  title = {Wheatear migration behaviour of an alpine breeding population (Switzerland)-light-levels},
  author = {Meier, CM and Rime, Y and Liechti, F},
  year = {2022},
  URL = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1},
  doi = {doi:10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1},
  publisher = {Movebank data repository}
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
ID  - doi:10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1
T1  - Wheatear migration behaviour of an alpine breeding population (Switzerland)-light-levels
AU  - Meier, Christoph M.
AU  - Rime, Yann
AU  - Liechti, Felix
Y1  - 2022/06/17
KW  - animal movement
KW  - animal tracking
KW  - avian migration
KW  - light-level logger
KW  - geolocator
KW  - Oenanthe oenanthe
KW  - passerines
KW  - wheatear
KW  - Oenanthe oenanthe
PB  - Movebank data repository
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1
DO  - doi:10.5441/001/1.vp61g6gd/1
ER  -
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