The spatial consistency and repeatability of migratory flight routes and stationary sites of individual European nightjars based on multiannual GPS tracks.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The degree to which avian migrants revisit the same sites to replicate routes from previous years has received more and more attention as the possibilities of tracking small to medium-size birds over multiple annual cycles have improved. Repeated measurements of individuals with an appropriate sampling resolution can potentially inform about their navigation and migration strategies and to what extent observed variation within and between individuals may reflect the selective potential in the population.

Methods

We analysed the annual space-use of European nightjars Caprimulgus europaeus tracked with GPS-loggers in multiple years between northern Europe and southern Africa. We quantified spatial consistency of stationary sites and variation, repeatability, and lat

SUBMITTER: Norevik G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11843740 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature