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Flexibility in daily travel routines causes regional variation in bird migration speed

Author

Summary, in English

We used novel Global Positioning System-based satellite telemetry to reconstruct daily time budgets on travelling days of a long-distance migrant, the Osprey Pandion haliaetus, to reveal how landscape affects migratory performance. We compared daily travel routines between the Ospreys' passage of Europe and the Sahara. In Europe, where feeding habitat is abundant, Ospreys fed both before-after flights and during interruptions, thus, combining migration with foraging. This resulted in a 2.7-h shorter daily flight period in Europe than in the Sahara. A calculated energy budget indicated that a 'fly-and-forage migration strategy' is favourable in Europe because associated benefits (energy intake) more than outweigh costs (reduced flight time). The much shorter flight time in Europe was the main explanation why Ospreys covered on average 78 km less distance on a travelling day in Europe than in the Sahara. In addition, there were regional differences in hourly flight speeds that are most probably the result of variation in thermal soaring conditions. We conclude that landscape properties have a profound effect on migration through regional variation in daily routines.

Publishing year

2008

Language

English

Pages

1427-1432

Publication/Series

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Volume

62

Issue

9

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Keywords

  • time
  • satellite tracking
  • landscape ecology
  • flight speed
  • habitat use
  • budget

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1432-0762