Avian wings can lengthen rather than shorten in response to increased migratory predation danger.

ABSTRACT: Increasing predation danger can select for safety-enhancing modifications to prey morphology. Here, we document the multi-decade wing lengthening of a Pacific flyway migrant, the western sandpiper (Calidris mauri), and contrast this with contemporaneous wing shortening of the closely related semipalmated sandpiper (C. pusilla) on the Atlantic flyway. We measured >12,000 southbound western sandpipers captured from 1978 to 2020 at a major stopover site in British Columbia. Wing length increased at 0.074 mm year^-1 (SE = 0.017; p < .0003) for adults, and 0.087 mm year^-1 (SE = 0.029; p < .007) for juveniles. These rates are of similarly large magnitude (4%-5% overall), but opposite in direction, to the rate we previously reported for semipalmate

SUBMITTER: Ydenberg RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10363853 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature