Naïve migrants and the use of magnetic cues: temporal fluctuations in the geomagnetic field differentially affect male and female Ruff Philomachus pugnax during their first migration |
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| Authors: | Eldar Rakhimberdiev Julia Karagicheva Kim Jaatinen David W. Winkler John B. Phillips Theunis Piersma |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Marine Ecology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), , Den Burg, Texel, 1790 AB The Netherlands;2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Vertebrates, and Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, , Ithaca, NY, 14850 USA;3. Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, , 119991 Moscow, Russia;4. Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, Research School of Biology, ANU College of Medicine, Biology & Environment, the Australian National University, , Canberra, ACT, 0200 Australia;5. Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, , Blacksburg, VA, 24061‐0406 USA;6. Chair in Global Flyway Ecology, Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, , 9700, CC Groningen, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
In many species, naïve first‐time migrants undertake migration without adults, supposedly on the basis of a ‘simple’ vector programme that combines an innate directional preference with a temporal programme that specifies distance. In strongly dimorphic species in which the sexes show distinct ecological requirements, the innate mechanisms of navigation may be expected to diverge between males and females with respect to their specific destinations. Based on captures of juvenile Ruff Philomachus pugnax at a migratory stopover over 21 years, a correlation was found between the year‐specific sex ratio and the global magnetic field disturbance during the 2 weeks prior to the peak of captures in that year. This suggests that males and females respond differently to geomagnetic disturbance with changes in either the direction of migration or the level of migratory activity, and implies sex‐specificity in the use of their geomagnetic navigational ‘toolbox’. |
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| Keywords: | average planetary magnetic index Finland sex differences sex ratio |
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