Tracking from the tropics reveals behaviour of juvenile songbirds on their first spring migration.

ABSTRACT: Juvenile songbirds on spring migration travel from tropical wintering sites to temperate breeding destinations thousands of kilometres away with no prior experience to guide them. We provide a first glimpse at the migration timing, routes, and stopover behaviour of juvenile wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) on their inaugural spring migration by using miniaturized archival geolocators to track them from Central America to the U.S. and Canada. We found significant differences between the timing of juvenile migration and that of more experienced adults: juveniles not only departed later from tropical wintering sites relative to adults, they also became progressively later as they moved northward. The increasing delay was driven by more frequent short stops by juveniles along their migrati

SUBMITTER: McKinnon EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4139399 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature