Days to visit an offshore island: effect of weather conditions on arrival fuel load and potential flight range for common blackbirds Turdus merula migrating over the North Sea.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Crossing open water instead of following the coast(line) is one way for landbirds to continue migration. However, depending on prevailing weather and the birds' physiological conditions, it is also a risky choice. To date, the question remains as to which interplay between environmental and physiological conditions force landbirds to stop on remote islands. We hypothesise that unfavourable winds affect lean birds with low energy resources, while poor visibility affects all birds regardless of their fuel loads.

Methods

To test this hypothesis, we caught 1312 common blackbirds Turdus merula stopping over on Helgoland during autumn and spring migration. Arrival fuel load was measured using quantitative magnetic resonance technology. Weather parameters (wind and relat

SUBMITTER: Kelsey NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8529821 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature