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Intra‐Africa movements of most African migratory birds remain an enigma. We describe the migrations of Wahlberg's eagle Hieraaetus wahlbergi using GPS‐GSM transmitters on adult eagles in their South African (n = 3) and Kenyan (n = 7) breeding areas between 2018 and 2022. The dataset included 57 migratory tracks, 29 post‐breeding and 28 pre‐breeding. We found long‐distance migrants (LDMs; from South Africa) and short‐distance migrants (SDMs; from Kenya) using common non‐breeding areas centered in the Sudans and Central African Republic. The timing of annual phases was similar, but LDMs departed on their pre‐breeding migration on average later than SDMs (13 August versus 31 July) and arrived later on their breeding grounds (13 September versus 10 August). Conversely, the average departure date on the post‐breeding migration was 4 April for SDM and 23 March for LDMs. LDMs spent significantly less time of the year than SDMs on breeding grounds (44 versus 57%), and slightly but not significantly more time (40 versus 38%) on non‐breeding areas. The post‐breeding migration distance was on average 3413.9 ± 170.9 km for LDMs and 491.9 ± 158.5 km for SDMs. At non‐breeding areas, LDMs reached more northerly latitudes than SDMs, increasing the pre‐breeding migration distance to 4495.9 ± 372.5 km for LDMs versus 1701.9 ± 167.3 for SDMs. Daily flight distances back to the breeding areas averaged 153.4 ± 130.3 km for LDMs and 167.4 ± 122.3 km for SDMs and to non‐breeding areas were shorter for SDMs (124.8 ± 113.0 km) than LDMs (178.0 ± 134.4 km). Migration speed was similar across populations and for pre‐ and post‐breeding migrations. LDMs used more stopover days than SDMs. We conclude that Wahlberg's eagles from different parts of Africa have adapted their migration to differences in timing of the breeding season, distance of travel, and resources in the landscapes encountered during migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Birds that repeatedly visit distinct places along their migratory routes in consecutive years must be able to navigate to these places and respond appropriately to unfavourable wind conditions. This study analysed the migratory routes, repeatedly‐visited areas and responses to sidewinds of 15 GPS‐tracked adult ospreys Pandion haliaetus from northeast Germany migrating to their wintering sites in Africa and back. We determined stopovers and intermediate goal areas and performed repeatability estimations on timing and migratory paths in four regions. The orientation behaviour of the ospreys was analysed with regard to perpendicular wind components at each GPS point during autumn and spring migrations. Generalised linear mixed models were used to test the dependence of orientation behaviour on region and the distance to the next goal. The findings showed that ospreys demonstrate high fidelity to migratory paths in autumn and spring, as well as to the timing of migration in autumn; and sidewinds are predominantly compensated, especially when sidewinds are strong. Furthermore, during autumn migration, the proportion of compensation increases in most regions with decreasing distances to the next goal; however, during spring migration, drift behaviour was detected more often at smaller distances to the next goal than at higher distances in the regions Mediterranean and central Europe. In general, ospreys compensate for unfavourable sidewinds and utilise supporting tailwinds on their journeys to the wintering sites in Africa and back to central Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]