Synchronous timing of return to breeding sites in a long-distance migratory seabird with ocean-scale variation in migration schedules

Abstract: Background
Migratory birds generally have tightly scheduled annual cycles, in which delays can have carry-over effects on the timing of later events, ultimately impacting reproductive output. Whether temporal carry-over effects are more pronounced among migrations over larger distances, with tighter schedules, is a largely unexplored question.

Methods
We tracked individual Arctic Skuas Stercorarius parasiticus, a long-distance migratory seabird, from eight breeding populations between Greenland and Siberia using light-level geolocators. We tested whether migration schedules among breeding populations differ as a function of their use of seven widely divergent wintering areas across the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.

Results
Breeding at higher latitudes led not only to later reproduction and migration, but also faster spring migration and shorter time between return to the breeding area and clutch initiation. Wintering area was consistent within individuals among years; and more distant areas were associated with more time spent on migration and less time in the wintering areas. Skuas adjusted the period spent in the wintering area, regardless of migration distance, which buffered the variation in timing of autumn migration. Choice of wintering area had only minor effects on timing of return at the breeding area and timing of breeding and these effects were not consistent between breeding populations.

Conclusion
The lack of a consistent effect of wintering area on timing of return between breeding areas indicates that individuals synchronize their arrival with others in their population despite extensive individual differences in migration strategies

Location
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Extent
Online-Ressource
Language
Englisch
Notes
Movement ecology. - 12, 1 (2024) , 22, ISSN: 2051-3933

Event
Veröffentlichung
(where)
Freiburg
(who)
Universität
(when)
2024
Creator
Bemmelen, Rob van
Moe, Børge
Schekkerman, Hans
Hansen, Sveinn Are
Snell, Katherine R. S.
Humphreys, Elizabeth M.
Mäntylä, Elina
Hallgrimsson, Gunnar Thor
Gilg, Olivier
Ehrich, Dorothée
Calladine, John
Hammer, Sjúrður
Harris, Sarah
Lang, Johannes
Vignisson, Sölvi Rúnar
Kolbeinsson, Yann
Nuotio, Kimmo
Sillanpää, Matti
Sittler, Benoît
Sokolov, Aleksandr
Klaassen, Raymond
Phillips, Richard A.
Tulp, Ingrid

DOI
10.1186/s40462-024-00459-9
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2532975
Rights
Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Last update
25.03.2025, 1:53 PM CET

Data provider

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Associated

  • Bemmelen, Rob van
  • Moe, Børge
  • Schekkerman, Hans
  • Hansen, Sveinn Are
  • Snell, Katherine R. S.
  • Humphreys, Elizabeth M.
  • Mäntylä, Elina
  • Hallgrimsson, Gunnar Thor
  • Gilg, Olivier
  • Ehrich, Dorothée
  • Calladine, John
  • Hammer, Sjúrður
  • Harris, Sarah
  • Lang, Johannes
  • Vignisson, Sölvi Rúnar
  • Kolbeinsson, Yann
  • Nuotio, Kimmo
  • Sillanpää, Matti
  • Sittler, Benoît
  • Sokolov, Aleksandr
  • Klaassen, Raymond
  • Phillips, Richard A.
  • Tulp, Ingrid
  • Universität

Time of origin

  • 2024

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