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Desert crossing strategies of migrant songbirds vary between and within species

Authors :
Frédéric Jiguet
Malcolm Burgess
Kasper Thorup
Greg Conway
José Luis Arroyo Matos
Lee Barber
John Black
Niall Burton
Joan Castelló
Gary Clewley
José Luis Copete
Michel Alexandre Czajkowski
Svein Dale
Tony Davis
Valery Dombrovski
Mike Drew
Jaanus Elts
Vicky Gilson
Emilienne Grzegorczyk
Ian Henderson
Michael Holdsworth
Rob Husbands
Romain Lorrilliere
Riho Marja
Simonas Minkevicius
Caroline Moussy
Peter Olsson
Alejandro Onrubia
Marc Pérez
Joseph Piacentini
Markus Piha
Jean-Marc Pons
Petr Procházka
Marko Raković
Harriet Robins
Tuomas Seimola
Gunnar Selstam
Michał Skierczyński
Jan Sondell
Jean-Claude Thibault
Anders P. Tøttrup
Justin Walker
Chris Hewson
Source :
Scientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2019)
Publication Year :
2019
Publisher :
Nature Portfolio, 2019.

Abstract

Abstract Each year, billions of songbirds cross large ecological barriers during their migration. Understanding how they perform this incredible task is crucial to predict how global change may threaten the safety of such journeys. Earlier studies based on radar suggested that most songbirds cross deserts in intermittent flights at high altitude, stopping in the desert during the day, while recent tracking with light loggers suggested diurnal prolongation of nocturnal flights and common non-stop flights for some species. We analyzed light intensity and temperature data obtained from geolocation loggers deployed on 130 individuals of ten migratory songbird species, and show that a large variety of strategies for crossing deserts exists between, but also sometimes within species. Diurnal stopover in the desert is a common strategy in autumn, while most species prolonged some nocturnal flights into the day. Non-stop flights over the desert occurred more frequently in spring than in autumn, and more frequently in foliage gleaners. Temperature recordings suggest that songbirds crossed deserts with flight bouts performed at various altitudes according to species and season, along a gradient ranging from low above ground in autumn to probably >2000 m above ground level, and possibly at higher altitude in spring. High-altitude flights are therefore not the general rule for crossing deserts in migrant songbirds. We conclude that a diversity of migration strategies exists for desert crossing among songbirds, with variations between but also within species.

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine
Science

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20452322
Volume :
9
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Scientific Reports
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.6fe9e535b6894108ad3326b867edea6b
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56677-4