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Evolution of chain migration in an aerial insectivorous bird, the common swift Apus apus

Åkesson, Susanne LU ; Atkinson, Phil W. ; Bermejo, Ana ; de la Puente, Javier ; Ferri, Mauro ; Hewson, Chris M. ; Holmgren, Jan ; Kaiser, Erich ; Kearsley, Lyndon and Klaassen, Raymond H.G. LU , et al. (2020) In Evolution 74(10). p.2377-2391
Abstract

Spectacular long-distance migration has evolved repeatedly in animals enabling exploration of resources separated in time and space. In birds, these patterns are largely driven by seasonality, cost of migration, and asymmetries in competition leading most often to leapfrog migration, where northern breeding populations winter furthest to the south. Here, we show that the highly aerial common swift Apus apus, spending the nonbreeding period on the wing, instead exhibits a rarely found chain migration pattern, where the most southern breeding populations in Europe migrate to wintering areas furthest to the south in Africa, whereas the northern populations winter to the north. The swifts concentrated in three major areas in sub-Saharan... (More)

Spectacular long-distance migration has evolved repeatedly in animals enabling exploration of resources separated in time and space. In birds, these patterns are largely driven by seasonality, cost of migration, and asymmetries in competition leading most often to leapfrog migration, where northern breeding populations winter furthest to the south. Here, we show that the highly aerial common swift Apus apus, spending the nonbreeding period on the wing, instead exhibits a rarely found chain migration pattern, where the most southern breeding populations in Europe migrate to wintering areas furthest to the south in Africa, whereas the northern populations winter to the north. The swifts concentrated in three major areas in sub-Saharan Africa during the nonbreeding period, with substantial overlap of nearby breeding populations. We found that the southern breeding swifts were larger, raised more young, and arrived to the wintering areas with higher seasonal variation in greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) earlier than the northern breeding swifts. This unusual chain migration pattern in common swifts is largely driven by differential annual timing and we suggest it evolves by prior occupancy and dominance by size in the breeding quarters and by prior occupancy combined with diffuse competition in the winter.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Annual timing, chain migration, common swift, diffuse competition, dominance by size, prior occupancy
in
Evolution
volume
74
issue
10
pages
15 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:32885859
  • scopus:85090766761
ISSN
0014-3820
DOI
10.1111/evo.14093
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
278e2634-97a4-4fd6-b920-addb9feb796a
date added to LUP
2020-10-20 14:37:38
date last changed
2025-01-10 19:43:57
@article{278e2634-97a4-4fd6-b920-addb9feb796a,
  abstract     = {{<p>Spectacular long-distance migration has evolved repeatedly in animals enabling exploration of resources separated in time and space. In birds, these patterns are largely driven by seasonality, cost of migration, and asymmetries in competition leading most often to leapfrog migration, where northern breeding populations winter furthest to the south. Here, we show that the highly aerial common swift Apus apus, spending the nonbreeding period on the wing, instead exhibits a rarely found chain migration pattern, where the most southern breeding populations in Europe migrate to wintering areas furthest to the south in Africa, whereas the northern populations winter to the north. The swifts concentrated in three major areas in sub-Saharan Africa during the nonbreeding period, with substantial overlap of nearby breeding populations. We found that the southern breeding swifts were larger, raised more young, and arrived to the wintering areas with higher seasonal variation in greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) earlier than the northern breeding swifts. This unusual chain migration pattern in common swifts is largely driven by differential annual timing and we suggest it evolves by prior occupancy and dominance by size in the breeding quarters and by prior occupancy combined with diffuse competition in the winter.</p>}},
  author       = {{Åkesson, Susanne and Atkinson, Phil W. and Bermejo, Ana and de la Puente, Javier and Ferri, Mauro and Hewson, Chris M. and Holmgren, Jan and Kaiser, Erich and Kearsley, Lyndon and Klaassen, Raymond H.G. and Kolunen, Heikki and Matsson, Gittan and Minelli, Fausto and Norevik, Gabriel and Pietiäinen, Hannu and Singh, Navinder J. and Spina, Fernando and Viktora, Lukas and Hedenström, Anders}},
  issn         = {{0014-3820}},
  keywords     = {{Annual timing; chain migration; common swift; diffuse competition; dominance by size; prior occupancy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{2377--2391}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Evolution}},
  title        = {{Evolution of chain migration in an aerial insectivorous bird, the common swift Apus apus}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/evo.14093}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/evo.14093}},
  volume       = {{74}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}