A circannual perspective on daily and total flight distances in a long-distance migratory raptor, the Montagu's harrier, Circus pygargus.

ABSTRACT: Long-distance migrants are particularly recognized for the distances covered on migration, yet little is known about the distances they cover during the rest of the year. GPS-tracks of 29 Montagu's harriers from breeding areas in France, The Netherlands and Denmark showed that harriers fly between 35 653 and 88 049 km yr^-1, of which on average only 28.5% is on migration. Mean daily distances during migration were 296 km d^-1 in autumn and 252 km d^-1 in spring. Surprisingly, males' daily distances during breeding (217 km d^-1) were close to those during migration, whereas breeding females moved significantly less (101 km d^-1) than males. In terms of flight distance, the breeding season seemed nearly as demanding as migration periods for m

SUBMITTER: Schlaich AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5493734 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature