No apparent gain from continuing migration for more than 3000 kilometres: willow warblers breeding in Denmark winter across the entire northern Savannah as revealed by geolocators.

ABSTRACT:

Background

For most Afro-Palearctic migrants, particularly small songbirds, spatiotemporal migration schedules and migratory connectivity remain poorly understood. We mapped migration from breeding through winter of one of the smallest Afro-Palearctic migrants, the willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus, using geolocators (n = 15).

Results

Birds migrated from North European breeding grounds to West Africa via the Iberian Peninsula following a narrow corridor along the West Coast of Africa. Birds then dispersed across the northern Savannah with termination of migration highly variable among individuals. The termination of migration appeared not to be related to timing, current and previous years' vegetation conditions or biometrics. During winter, most birds move

SUBMITTER: Lerche-Jorgensen M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576281 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature