Complex timing of Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus migration due to pre- and post-migratory movements
(2008) In Ardea 96(2). p.159-171- Abstract
- We tracked three juvenile and 14 adult Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus
from southern Sweden via satellite to investigate migration strategies.
Four individuals were tracked for at least two years. All three juveniles
and four of the adults made west-oriented pre-migratory movements
well before the onset of autumn migration, and trans-Saharan
migrants visited post-migratory stopover areas in tropical Africa. By
these movements, the harriers presumably exploit short-term regional
variation in food abundance. Autumn and spring migration occurred in
a relatively narrow corridor, without distinct differences between sexes
in timing, speed, distance, and duration... (More) - We tracked three juvenile and 14 adult Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus
from southern Sweden via satellite to investigate migration strategies.
Four individuals were tracked for at least two years. All three juveniles
and four of the adults made west-oriented pre-migratory movements
well before the onset of autumn migration, and trans-Saharan
migrants visited post-migratory stopover areas in tropical Africa. By
these movements, the harriers presumably exploit short-term regional
variation in food abundance. Autumn and spring migration occurred in
a relatively narrow corridor, without distinct differences between sexes
in timing, speed, distance, and duration of migration, except that
females tended to migrate faster in spring than did males. Juveniles
migrated shorter distances than adults, and migration speeds were
lower. Spring migration was similar to autumn migration in terms of
speed and duration. Juveniles did not cross the Sahara Desert and three
birds, one female and two juveniles, wintered in Europe, which is in
accordance with a recent increase in the number of (juvenile) Marsh
Harriers wintering in northwestern Europe. All birds that crossed the
Sahara wintered in tropical West Africa. Harriers showed site fidelity to
breeding, wintering and stopover areas. The overall migration speed of
Marsh Harriers was similar to that of Ospreys Pandion haliaetus and
Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus, two other trans-Saharan migrants.
Ospreys use fly-and-forage migration to promote resulting speed,
whereas Honey Buzzards are particularly apt to exploit thermal soaring.
How Marsh Harriers balance foraging versus travelling to accomplish
their rapid migration speeds remains to be resolved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1428708
- author
- Strandberg, Roine LU ; Klaassen, Raymond LU ; Hake, Mikael ; Olofsson, Patrik ; Thorup, Kasper and Alerstam, Thomas LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2008
- type
- Contribution to specialist publication or newspaper
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Marsh Harrier, post-migratory movements, pre-migratory movements, satellite tracking, migration
- categories
- Popular Science
- in
- Ardea
- volume
- 96
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 159 - 171
- publisher
- Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000269623000002
- scopus:56749185256
- ISSN
- 0373-2266
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c189c8fa-c00c-46cd-a1a0-6073403ddbb8 (old id 1428708)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:38:18
- date last changed
- 2022-04-14 18:55:51
@misc{c189c8fa-c00c-46cd-a1a0-6073403ddbb8,
abstract = {{We tracked three juvenile and 14 adult Marsh Harriers Circus aeruginosus<br/><br>
from southern Sweden via satellite to investigate migration strategies.<br/><br>
Four individuals were tracked for at least two years. All three juveniles<br/><br>
and four of the adults made west-oriented pre-migratory movements<br/><br>
well before the onset of autumn migration, and trans-Saharan<br/><br>
migrants visited post-migratory stopover areas in tropical Africa. By<br/><br>
these movements, the harriers presumably exploit short-term regional<br/><br>
variation in food abundance. Autumn and spring migration occurred in<br/><br>
a relatively narrow corridor, without distinct differences between sexes<br/><br>
in timing, speed, distance, and duration of migration, except that<br/><br>
females tended to migrate faster in spring than did males. Juveniles<br/><br>
migrated shorter distances than adults, and migration speeds were<br/><br>
lower. Spring migration was similar to autumn migration in terms of<br/><br>
speed and duration. Juveniles did not cross the Sahara Desert and three<br/><br>
birds, one female and two juveniles, wintered in Europe, which is in<br/><br>
accordance with a recent increase in the number of (juvenile) Marsh<br/><br>
Harriers wintering in northwestern Europe. All birds that crossed the<br/><br>
Sahara wintered in tropical West Africa. Harriers showed site fidelity to<br/><br>
breeding, wintering and stopover areas. The overall migration speed of<br/><br>
Marsh Harriers was similar to that of Ospreys Pandion haliaetus and<br/><br>
Honey Buzzards Pernis apivorus, two other trans-Saharan migrants.<br/><br>
Ospreys use fly-and-forage migration to promote resulting speed,<br/><br>
whereas Honey Buzzards are particularly apt to exploit thermal soaring.<br/><br>
How Marsh Harriers balance foraging versus travelling to accomplish<br/><br>
their rapid migration speeds remains to be resolved.}},
author = {{Strandberg, Roine and Klaassen, Raymond and Hake, Mikael and Olofsson, Patrik and Thorup, Kasper and Alerstam, Thomas}},
issn = {{0373-2266}},
keywords = {{Marsh Harrier; post-migratory movements; pre-migratory movements; satellite tracking; migration}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{159--171}},
publisher = {{Nederlandse Ornithologische Unie}},
series = {{Ardea}},
title = {{Complex timing of Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus migration due to pre- and post-migratory movements}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4080548/1429323.pdf}},
volume = {{96}},
year = {{2008}},
}