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Satellite tracking of Swedish Ospreys Pandion haliaetus: Autumn migration routes and orientation

Hake, M ; Kjellén, Nils LU and Alerstam, Thomas LU (2001) In Journal of Avian Biology 32(1). p.47-56
Abstract
Autumn migration routes and orientation of Swedish Ospreys Pandion haliaetus were studied by satellite tracking of 18 birds. Of these. 13 could be followed during the entire migration (6 females, 5 males and 2 juveniles). Most birds migrated across western and central Europe to winter in tropical West Africa. However, one juvenile flew to Cameroon and one Female used a very easterly route and reached Mozambique. On average, the birds travelled a total distance of about 6700 km, with little variation except for the female wintering in Mozambique, who travelled more than 10000 km. Of 21 stopovers (of > 1 day), only five were made south of 45 degreesN; three of these in Africa. Females departed before males and juveniles and flew to a... (More)
Autumn migration routes and orientation of Swedish Ospreys Pandion haliaetus were studied by satellite tracking of 18 birds. Of these. 13 could be followed during the entire migration (6 females, 5 males and 2 juveniles). Most birds migrated across western and central Europe to winter in tropical West Africa. However, one juvenile flew to Cameroon and one Female used a very easterly route and reached Mozambique. On average, the birds travelled a total distance of about 6700 km, with little variation except for the female wintering in Mozambique, who travelled more than 10000 km. Of 21 stopovers (of > 1 day), only five were made south of 45 degreesN; three of these in Africa. Females departed before males and juveniles and flew to a stopover site they probably were familiar with. After 3-4 weeks there, they continued to their wintering grounds. Also males and juveniles usually made one or more stopovers. Adults seemed to travel to a known wintering site. where they remained stationary, whereas juveniles were more mobile after reaching tropical regions, probably looking for good wintering sites. Males generally left the breeding area in directions similar to the mean migratory direction, whereas a fen females departed in diverging initial directions. Apart from these diversions, adult Ospreys followed very straight migratory routes. with overall mean directions of 185-209 degrees and with mean angular deviations of 6-33 degrees. Some juveniles also departed in diverging directions. Moreover, young birds tended to show a larger variability in orientation. Thus, the Ospreys kept a fairly straight direction and did not avoid geographical obstacles such as mountain ranges and desert areas. However. they seemed reluctant to cross large water bodies. There was no correlation between angular deviation and length of the migrational segment, indicating that the principles of orientation by vector summation may not be valid for Osprey migration. Moreover, the geographic direction of migration did not vary in accordance with variations in the magnetic declination, suggesting that the Ospreys did not orient along magnetic loxodromes. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
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in
Journal of Avian Biology
volume
32
issue
1
pages
47 - 56
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:0035096714
ISSN
0908-8857
DOI
10.1034/j.1600-048X.2001.320107.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cca2a545-abfa-42ad-9eb2-8eb3b6f79909 (old id 145833)
alternative location
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/JAV/32/1
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:46:17
date last changed
2022-08-20 21:37:02
@article{cca2a545-abfa-42ad-9eb2-8eb3b6f79909,
  abstract     = {{Autumn migration routes and orientation of Swedish Ospreys Pandion haliaetus were studied by satellite tracking of 18 birds. Of these. 13 could be followed during the entire migration (6 females, 5 males and 2 juveniles). Most birds migrated across western and central Europe to winter in tropical West Africa. However, one juvenile flew to Cameroon and one Female used a very easterly route and reached Mozambique. On average, the birds travelled a total distance of about 6700 km, with little variation except for the female wintering in Mozambique, who travelled more than 10000 km. Of 21 stopovers (of > 1 day), only five were made south of 45 degreesN; three of these in Africa. Females departed before males and juveniles and flew to a stopover site they probably were familiar with. After 3-4 weeks there, they continued to their wintering grounds. Also males and juveniles usually made one or more stopovers. Adults seemed to travel to a known wintering site. where they remained stationary, whereas juveniles were more mobile after reaching tropical regions, probably looking for good wintering sites. Males generally left the breeding area in directions similar to the mean migratory direction, whereas a fen females departed in diverging initial directions. Apart from these diversions, adult Ospreys followed very straight migratory routes. with overall mean directions of 185-209 degrees and with mean angular deviations of 6-33 degrees. Some juveniles also departed in diverging directions. Moreover, young birds tended to show a larger variability in orientation. Thus, the Ospreys kept a fairly straight direction and did not avoid geographical obstacles such as mountain ranges and desert areas. However. they seemed reluctant to cross large water bodies. There was no correlation between angular deviation and length of the migrational segment, indicating that the principles of orientation by vector summation may not be valid for Osprey migration. Moreover, the geographic direction of migration did not vary in accordance with variations in the magnetic declination, suggesting that the Ospreys did not orient along magnetic loxodromes.}},
  author       = {{Hake, M and Kjellén, Nils and Alerstam, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{0908-8857}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{47--56}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Avian Biology}},
  title        = {{Satellite tracking of Swedish Ospreys Pandion haliaetus: Autumn migration routes and orientation}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/2634351/625067.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1034/j.1600-048X.2001.320107.x}},
  volume       = {{32}},
  year         = {{2001}},
}