ArticleMovement ecology2021
Migrating curlews on schedule: departure and arrival patterns of a long-distance migrant depend on time and breeding location rather than on wind conditions.
Article in Movement ecology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Departing With the Wind: Spring Migration Timing in Brent Geese From Their Most Important Staging and Wintering Site, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Latitudinal variation in seasonal migration of Eurasian curlews Numenius a. arquata breeding in Great Britain: breeding failure advances departure timing in southern populations.Movement ecology · 2026Article
- Females Fly Further-Sex-Specific and Seasonal Differences in Migration Patterns of Pied Avocets.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- High annual-cycle repeatability suggests low flexibility to environmental changes in a near-threatened migratory shorebird.Communications biology · 2026Article
- A global dataset of spatiotemporal co-occurrence patterns of avian influenza virus-associated migratory birds.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Night flight facilitates late breeding catch-up in a long-distance migratory seabird.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Timing of spring departure of long distance migrants correlates with previous year's conditions at their breeding site.Biology letters · 2021Article
- Far eastern curlew and whimbrel prefer flying low - wind support and good visibility appear only secondary factors in determining migratory flight altitude.Movement ecology · 2021Article
- Migrating curlews on schedule: departure and arrival patterns of a long-distance migrant depend on time and breeding location rather than on wind conditions.Movement ecology · 2021Article
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Abstract
backgroundDeparture decisions in long-distance migratory bird species may depend on favourable weather conditions and beneficial resources at the destination location, overarched by genetic triggers. However, few studies have tried to validate the significance of these three concepts simultaneously, and long-term, high-resolution tagging datasets recording individual movements across consecutive years are scarce. We used such a dataset to explore intraspecific and intra-individual variabilities in departure and arrival decisions from/to wintering grounds in relation to these three different concepts in bird migration.
methodsWe equipped 23 curlews (Numenius arquata) wintering in the Wadden Sea with Global Positioning System data loggers to record their spatio-temporal patterns of departure from and arrival at their wintering site, and the first part of their spring migration. We obtained data for 42 migrations over 6 years, with 12 individuals performing repeat migrations in consecutive years. Day of year of departure and arrival was related to 38 meteorological and bird-related predictors using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) to identify drivers of departure and arrival decisions.
resultsCurlews migrated almost exclusively to Arctic and sub-Arctic Russia for breeding. They left their wintering site mainly during the evening from mid- to late April and returned between the end of June and mid-July. There was no difference in departure times between the sexes. Weather parameters did not impact departure decisions; if departure days coincided with headwind conditions, the birds accounted for this by flying at higher altitudes of up to several kilometres. Curlews breeding further away in areas with late snowmelt departed later. Departures dates varied by only < 4 days in individual curlews tagged over consecutive years.
conclusionsThese results suggest that the trigger for migration in this long-distance migrant is largely independent of weather conditions but is subject to resource availability in breeding areas. The high intra-individual repeatability of departure days among subsequent years and the lack of relationship to weather parameters suggest the importance of genetic triggers in prompting the start of migration. Further insights into the timing of migration in immatures and closely related birds might help to further unravel the genetic mechanisms triggering migration patterns.
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