The role of wind in passerine autumn migration between Europe and Africa

Large ecological barriers such as oceans and deserts have considerablyshaped the migratory strategies of birds. The ecological barriersposed by the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sahara seemto prevent most long-distance migrants from flying on a directsouthward course from Europe to Africa. Migratory routes towardsouthwest and southeast prevail. These two flyways differ withrespect to topography, refueling possibilities, and wind conditions.Aiming at a better understanding of the evolution of both flywaysin spite of differing conditions, we studied potential survivalof passerine birds on their first autumn migration from northernEurope to tropical Africa by means of a computer simulation.Considering real wind conditions at 850 mb (approximately 1500m above sea level), the survival rates of birds with southeasterly(SE) migratory directions were much higher than those of birdswith southwesterly (SW) directions. With the possibility tochoose the altitude (from four levels) with the most favorablewind, both SE and SW migrants had similar high survival, butonly with refueling opportunities in northwest (NW) Africa forSW migrants. Our results suggest that the southwestern flywaydepends on the selection of days, but especially altitudes,with favorable wind conditions and on refueling opportunitiesin NW Africa. The SE flyway is privileged by the frequent favorablewind conditions for crossing the eastern Mediterranean Sea andthe Egyptian desert, where refueling sites are almost absent.Both autumn migration routes would be unlikely without windassistance.     

莲花山云南柳莺的孵卵行为

20 0 2年 6～ 7月 ,在甘肃省莲花山自然保护区对云南柳莺的孵卵行为进行了研究。结果表明 ,雌鸟孵卵的日活动期为 (80 0 5± 42 8)min (n =1 5 ) ,每天离巢 (3 2 7± 3 9)次 (n =1 5 ) ,每次离巢时间 (6 6±1 8)min (n =5 99) ,每次坐巢时间 (1 8 4± 9 2 )min (n =5 83 ) ,坐巢率为 (73 1± 1 9) %。雌鸟每次坐巢时间和离巢时间的长度均与气温显著相关。日活动期雌鸟在巢的平均卵温为 3 2 3℃ ,夜晚的平均卵温为3 2 7℃。整个孵卵期卵温在发育临界值 2 8℃以上的时间比例为 92 7%。在孵卵后期卵温有逐渐上升的趋势。     

莲花山甘肃柳莺的声谱分析和繁殖记录

甘肃柳莺一起被认为是黄腰柳莺的亚种或同种异名,近年来重新被确认为独立的鸟种。2001年6月－7月,作者在甘肃省莲花山自然保护区海拔2850m的云冷杉针叶林对甘肃柳莺的典型鸣唱、叫声进行了记录及声谱分析,首次描述了甘肃柳莺的巢址、卵等基本繁殖生物学资料,并运用自动温度记录器研究了甘肃柳莺雌鸟的孵卵节律。     

Breeding ecology of an Old World high-altitude warbler, Phylloscopus affinis

Reproduction of Tickell’s Leaf Warblers Phylloscopus affinis was studied in an alpine valley (29°27′N, 91°40′E, 3,980–5,600 m) in the Lhasa mountains, Tibet, at the upper elevational limit of the species’ breeding range. This species is a summer breeder, and is the only breeding Phylloscopus species in the valley. It nested in all types of shrubby vegetation across the altitudinal range of the valley. Most nests were placed close to the ground (<1 m) in low thorn bushes. Egg-laying dates fell between late May and early July, most within the first 3 weeks after the commencement of breeding. Mean clutch size was 4.0 (3–5) and mean brood size at fledging 3.4 (2–5). Incubation was by the females and lasted 13–14 days, and both parents cared for the young for 14–17 days. Nestlings ready to leave the nest were 13% heavier than the adults. Overall, 76% of nesting attempts produced at least one fledged young. Some aspects of the breeding biology of this high-altitude warbler were compared with those of lower-altitude Phylloscopus species.     

The study of bird migrations – some future perspectives

Capsule Routes and destinations have been unveiled but modern techniques offer the chance to explore much more.

Ringing of birds unveiled many mysteries of avian migrations, notably routes and destinations. However, there is still much to be explored by the use of ringing and other marks. Satellite tracking, geolocation and global positioning systems, and even electronic tags may enable much more detailed insights into the migration patterns of individual birds and populations. But also a more elaborated colour-marking approach is recommended. Moreover, particular chemical and molecular markers appear to be very useful in the study of bird migration by delineating the origin of birds and connectivity between breeding and non-breeding grounds. Co-ordinated, collaborative, standardized and large-scale migration networks provide another elaborate tool to study differential migration and patterns of migratory timing and fuelling. Although our understanding of bird migration has gained much from captive studies about the internal mechanisms in the control of bird migration, we still lack knowledge about external factors, such as food availability, weather, competitors, parasites or diseases. Such data are also required to refine theoretical models of migration strategies. Future migration research must aim at much more comparative research and a more integrative approach at various spatial and temporal scales, and link various subdisciplines. It must also consider that migration is only one part of the life of a migrating species. Thus, linking migration and breeding is another future challenge, both for basic science and for effective protection of migratory birds.     

甘肃莲花山淡眉柳莺的繁殖记录及其孵卵行为

2001年6～7月,在甘肃省莲花山自然保护区记录了淡眉柳莺(Phylloscopus humei)繁殖,研究了其孵卵行为。结果表明,窝卵数为(4.3±0.5)枚(4～5,n=4),卵的大小为(14.0±0.4)mm×(11.2±0.4)mm(n=17)。育雏期为(13.8±0.5)d(13～14,n=4)。孵化期内雌鸟日活动期的平均长度为(833.2±40.0)min,平均每天离巢(46.6±12.2)次(n=27),每次离巢时间为(5.3±2.8)min(n=1435),每次在巢时间为(12.7±7.5)min(n=1409),在巢率为72.4%±11.6%(n=21)。雨天在巢和离巢的时间与晴天有显著差异,晴天在巢率为71.5%±12.1%(n=13),雨天在巢率为75.1%±9.0%(n=8)。在整个孵卵期间所有记录到的卵温平均为31.2℃(49066min内连续记录58879次)。雌鸟每次离巢,卵温平均下降(9.4±3.4)℃(n=1450)。     

The annual cycle of a trans-equatorial Eurasian-African passerine migrant: different spatio-temporal strategies for autumn and spring migration

The small size of the billions of migrating songbirds commuting between temperate breeding sites and the tropics has long prevented the study of the largest part of their annual cycle outside the breeding grounds. Using light-level loggers (geolocators), we recorded the entire annual migratory cycle of the red-backed shrike Lanius collurio, a trans-equatorial Eurasian-African passerine migrant. We tested differences between autumn and spring migration for nine individuals. Duration of migration between breeding and winter sites was significantly longer in autumn (average 96 days) when compared with spring (63 days). This difference was explained by much longer staging periods during autumn (71 days) than spring (9 days). Between staging periods, the birds travelled faster during autumn (356 km d(-1)) than during spring (233 km d(-1)). All birds made a protracted stop (53 days) in Sahelian sub-Sahara on southbound migration. The birds performed a distinct loop migration (22 000 km) where spring distance, including a detour across the Arabian Peninsula, exceeded the autumn distance by 22 per cent. Geographical scatter between routes was particularly narrow in spring, with navigational convergence towards the crossing point from Africa to the Arabian Peninsula. Temporal variation between individuals was relatively constant, while different individuals tended to be consistently early or late at different departure/arrival occasions during the annual cycle. These results demonstrate the existence of fundamentally different spatio-temporal migration strategies used by the birds during autumn and spring migration, and that songbirds may rely on distinct staging areas for completion of their annual cycle, suggesting more sophisticated endogenous control mechanisms than merely clock-and-compass guidance among terrestrial solitary migrants. After a century with metal-ringing, year-round tracking of long-distance migratory songbirds promises further insights into bird migration.     

Individuality in bird migration: routes and timing

The exploration of animal migration has entered a new era with individual-based tracking during multiple years. Here, we investigated repeated migratory journeys of a long-distance migrating bird, the marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, in order to analyse the variation within and between individuals with respect to routes and timing. We found that there was a stronger individual repeatability in time than in space. Thus, the annual timing of migration varied much less between repeated journeys of the same individual than between different individuals, while there was considerable variation in the routes of the same individual on repeated journeys. The overall contrast in repeatability between time and space was unexpected and may be owing to strong endogenous control of timing, while short-term variation in environmental conditions (weather and habitat) might promote route flexibility. The individual variation in migration routes indicates that the birds navigate mainly by other means than detailed route recapitulation based on landmark recognition.     

Is Rapoport's rule a recent phenomenon? A deep time perspective on potential causal mechanisms

Macroecology strives to identify ecological patterns on broad spatial and temporal scales. One such pattern, Rapoport''s rule, describes the tendency of species'' latitudinal ranges to increase with increasing latitude. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this rule. Some invoke climate, either through glaciation driving differential extinction of northern species or through increased seasonal variability at higher latitudes causing higher thermal tolerances and subsequently larger ranges. Alternatively, continental tapering or higher interspecific competition at lower latitudes may be responsible. Assessing the incidence of Rapoport''s rule through deep time can help to distinguish between competing explanations. Using fossil occurrence data from the Palaeobiology Database, we test these hypotheses by evaluating mammalian compliance with the rule throughout the Caenozoic of North America. Adherence to Rapoport''s rule primarily coincides with periods of intense cooling and increased seasonality, suggesting that extinctions caused by changing climate may have played an important role in erecting the latitudinal gradients in range sizes seen today.     

Bio-Imitation of Mexican Migration Routes to the USA with Slime Mould on 3D Terrains

Plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum (P. polycephalum) is a large single cell visible by an unaided eye. It shows sophisticated behavioural traits in foraging for nutrients and developing an optimal transport network of protoplasmic tubes spanning sources of nutrients. When placed in an environment with distributed sources of nutrients the cell ‘computes’ an optimal graph spanning the nutrients by growing a network of protoplasmic tubes. P. polycephalum imitates development of man-made transport networks of a country when configuration of nutrients represents major urban areas. We employed this feature of the slime mould to imitate mexican migration to USA. The Mexican migration to USA is the World's largest migration system. We bio-physically imitated the migration using slime mould P. polycephalum. In laboratory experiments with 3D Nylon terrains of USA we imitated development of migratory routes from Mexico-USA border to ten urban areas with high concentration of Mexican migrants. From results of laboratory experiments we extracted topologies of migratory routes, and highlighted a role of elevations in shaping the human movement networks.