Flyways and migratory behaviour of the Vega gull (Larus vegae), a little-known Arctic endemic (original) (raw)
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Migration and Wintering Areas of Glaucous-Winged Gulls From South-Central Alaska
The Condor, 2011
Resumen. Usamos telemetría satelital para investigar los patrones de migración y las áreas de invernada de Larus glaucescens en la isla Middleton, Alaska, donde la población de esta especie aumentó 10 veces desde la década de 1970 hasta la de 1990. La migración de otoño duró 11 semanas, incluyendo numerosas paradas en ruta, aparentemente para alimentarse. La migración de primavera desde las áreas de invernada hacia la isla Middleton fue más corta (cuatro semanas) y más directa. Un individuo joven pasó varios meses en el sur de Prince William Sound. Un adulto pasó varios meses cerca de Craig, al sudeste de Alaska, mientras que otros tres extendieron el período de invernada en el sur de British Columbia. Para los cuatro adultos invernantes el uso de los sitios de disposición de residuos fue evidente o fuertemente sugerido. El comensalismo con los humanos puede haber contribuido al aumento en Middleton, pero también se puede argumentar una explicación alternativa contundente-el reclutamiento regional de las gaviotas como respuesta al hábitat de anidación de alta calidad en Alaska creado luego del terremoto de 1964. Un análisis de recuperación de anillos revela una gran superposición en los sitios de invernada de las gaviotas de las distintas colonias de Alaska y de las gaviotas anilladas en la costa este desde British Columbia hasta California. El movimiento estacional de muchas gaviotas desde Alaska es indudablemente migratorio, mientras que las gaviotas de la Columbia Británica, Washington y Oregón se dispersan localmente en invierno.
Annual Movement Patterns of Endangered Ivory Gulls: The Importance of Sea Ice
PLoS ONE, 2014
The ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea) is an endangered seabird that spends its entire year in the Arctic environment. In the past three decades, threats from various sources have contributed to a .70% decline in Canada. To assess the annual habitat needs of this species, we attached satellite transmitters to 12 ivory gulls on Seymour Island, Nunavut in 2010, which provided up to four breeding seasons of tracking data. Analysis of migratory behaviour revealed considerable individual variation of post-breeding migratory route selection. Ivory gulls traveled a median of 74 days during post-breeding migration, but only 18 days during pre-breeding migration. In contrast to predictions, ivory gulls did not use the Greenland coast during migratory periods. Ivory gulls overwintered near the ice edge in Davis Strait, but also used the Labrador Sea in late February and March. We suggest that the timing of formation and recession and extent of sea ice plays a large role in ivory gull distribution and migratory timing.
Arctic avian predators synchronise their spring migration with the northern progression of snowmelt
Scientific Reports
Migratory species display a range of migration patterns between irruptive (facultative) to regular (obligate), as a response to different predictability of resources. In the Arctic, snow directly influences resource availability. The causes and consequences of different migration patterns of migratory species as a response to the snow conditions remains however unexplored. Birds migrating to the Arctic are expected to follow the spring snowmelt to optimise their arrival time and select for snow-free areas to maximise prey encounter en-route. Based on large-scale movement data, we compared the migration patterns of three top predator species of the tundra in relation to the spatio-temporal dynamics of snow cover. The snowy owl, an irruptive migrant, the rough-legged buzzard, with an intermediary migration pattern, and the peregrine falcon as a regular migrant, all followed, as expected, the spring snowmelt during their migrations. However, the owl stayed ahead, the buzzard stayed on,...
Movement Ecology, 2021
Background Knowledge on migration patterns and flyways is a key for understanding the dynamics of migratory populations and evolution of migratory behaviour. Bird migration is usually considered to be movements between breeding and wintering areas, while less attention has been paid to other long-distance movements such as moult migration. Methods We use high-resolution satellite-tracking data from 58 taiga bean geese Anser fabalis fabalis from the years 2019–2020, to study their moult migration during breeding season. We show the moulting sites, estimate the migratory connectivity between the breeding and the moulting sites, and estimate the utilization distributions during moult. We reveal migration routes and compare the length and timing of migration between moult migrants and successful breeders. Results All satellite-tracked non-breeding and unsuccessfully breeding taiga bean geese migrated annually to the island of Novaya Zemlya in the high Arctic for wing moult, meaning that...
Gulls can change their migratory behavior during lifetime
Oikos, 2010
Migration is a widespread phenomenon among birds and is likely to be subject to strong selective pressures. Birds' annual routines and behaviors might be expected to change during their diff erent life history stages, resulting in diff erent, agerelated migration patterns. However, although migration has been the subject of many publications, age-related diff erences in migration have received little attention. Th e present study examined age-related changes in individual migration habits in lesser black-backed gulls, Larus fuscus. We analyzed data from 10-year (1998-2007) color-ringing project in NW England, comprising more than 10 000 ringed individuals. Our results showed a latitudinal cline in age structure across the wintering range, with adults and gulls in their fi rst breeding year wintering closer to the breeding grounds. Supporting this result we observed that individuals, as they get older, changed the migration behavior and winter closer to the breeding areas. Interestingly, we found no diff erences in survival rates across the wintering grounds. Th us diff erences in survival rates can not account for the latitudinal cline in age structure, and the observed fi ndings seem to be best explained by the arrival time hypothesis, based on a mechanism whereby individuals are able to change their migratory behavior as result of the onset of sexual maturity and associated mating pressures.
Arctic Species Trend Index: Migratory Birds Index
CAFF Assessment series
This report aims to describe the broad-scale trends necessary for designing and targeting informed conservation strategies at the flyway level to address these reported declines. To do this, we examine abundance change in selected Arctic breeding bird species, incorporating information from both inside and outside the Arctic (Figure 1) to capture possible influences at different points during a species annual cycle. The inclusion of trend information from non-Arctic locations confers a number of other advantages: data are readily available from key sites where individuals congregate in large, easy-to-count flocks; and adding these data allows for better disaggregation of trends due to larger data set size, thus providing the opportunity to elucidate the regional differences that have already been reported in the literature (Zöckler et al. 2013). Importantly, this addition also makes sense politically as the selected species are dependent on interconnected sites across the globe, meaning that suitable and effective conservation strategies can only be devised through international collaboration.
Scientific Reports, 2019
Climate models predict that by 2050 the Arctic Ocean will be sea ice free each summer. Removing this barrier between the Atlantic and the Pacific will modify a wide range of ecological processes, including bird migration. Using published information, we identified 29 arctic-breeding seabird species, which currently migrate in the North Atlantic and could shift to a transarctic migration towards the North Pacific. We also identified 24 arctic-breeding seabird species which may shift from a migratory strategy to high-arctic year-round residency. To illustrate the biogeographical consequences of such drastic migratory shifts, we performed an in-depth study of little auks (Alle alle), the most numerous artic seabird. Coupling species distribution models and climatic models, we assessed the adequacy of future wintering and breeding areas for transarctic migrants and high-arctic year-round residents. Further, we used a mechanistic bioenergetics model (Niche Mapper), to compare the energet...