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Geographical and temporal flexibility in the response to crosswinds by migrating raptors.

Klaassen, Raymond LU ; Hake, Mikael ; Strandberg, Roine LU and Alerstam, Thomas LU (2011) In Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278. p.1339-1346
Abstract
Wind and ocean currents may potentially have important effects on travelling animals, as an animal which does not respond to lateral flow will be drifted from its intended direction of movement. By analysing daily movements of migrating ospreys Pandion haliaetus and marsh harriers Circus aeruginosus, as recorded by satellite telemetry, in relation to global wind data, we showed that these raptors allow on average 47 per cent drift. Furthermore, our analyses revealed significant geographical and temporal variation in the response to crosswinds. During some parts of the migration, the birds drifted and in other parts they compensated or even overcompensated. In some regions, the response of marsh harriers depended on the wind direction. They... (More)
Wind and ocean currents may potentially have important effects on travelling animals, as an animal which does not respond to lateral flow will be drifted from its intended direction of movement. By analysing daily movements of migrating ospreys Pandion haliaetus and marsh harriers Circus aeruginosus, as recorded by satellite telemetry, in relation to global wind data, we showed that these raptors allow on average 47 per cent drift. Furthermore, our analyses revealed significant geographical and temporal variation in the response to crosswinds. During some parts of the migration, the birds drifted and in other parts they compensated or even overcompensated. In some regions, the response of marsh harriers depended on the wind direction. They drifted when the wind came from one side and (over)compensated when the wind came from the opposite side, and this flexible response was different in different geographical regions. These results suggest that migrating raptors modulate their response to crosswinds at different places and times during their travels and show that individual birds use a much more varied repertoire of behavioural responses to wind than hitherto assumed. Our results may also explain why contrasting and variable results have been obtained in previous studies of the effect of wind on bird migration. (Less)
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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume
278
pages
1339 - 1346
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000288851800009
  • scopus:79953312120
  • pmid:20980299
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2010.2106
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1c4dd2fa-0bdc-468c-acfa-815289ffcd00 (old id 1710680)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:13:08
date last changed
2022-04-06 03:12:37
@article{1c4dd2fa-0bdc-468c-acfa-815289ffcd00,
  abstract     = {{Wind and ocean currents may potentially have important effects on travelling animals, as an animal which does not respond to lateral flow will be drifted from its intended direction of movement. By analysing daily movements of migrating ospreys Pandion haliaetus and marsh harriers Circus aeruginosus, as recorded by satellite telemetry, in relation to global wind data, we showed that these raptors allow on average 47 per cent drift. Furthermore, our analyses revealed significant geographical and temporal variation in the response to crosswinds. During some parts of the migration, the birds drifted and in other parts they compensated or even overcompensated. In some regions, the response of marsh harriers depended on the wind direction. They drifted when the wind came from one side and (over)compensated when the wind came from the opposite side, and this flexible response was different in different geographical regions. These results suggest that migrating raptors modulate their response to crosswinds at different places and times during their travels and show that individual birds use a much more varied repertoire of behavioural responses to wind than hitherto assumed. Our results may also explain why contrasting and variable results have been obtained in previous studies of the effect of wind on bird migration.}},
  author       = {{Klaassen, Raymond and Hake, Mikael and Strandberg, Roine and Alerstam, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{1339--1346}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Geographical and temporal flexibility in the response to crosswinds by migrating raptors.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2106}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rspb.2010.2106}},
  volume       = {{278}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}