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Multi-sensor tracking reveals the extent of nocturnal migration in landbirds

Dufour, Paul ; Nussbaumer, Raphaël ; Doniol-Valcroze, Paul ; Rime, Yann ; Adamík, Peter ; Åkesson, Susanne LU orcid ; Arlettaz, Raphaël ; Barras, Arnaud G ; Batbayar, Nyambayar and Beggs, Ian , et al. (2026) In Current biology : CB 36(14). p.3-3706
Abstract

Most bird species are diurnal but drastically change their diel cycle of activity to migrate at night. Nocturnal migration has been documented using different methods (e.g., experiments, radar and radio tracking, and acoustic monitoring), but accurately quantifying the proportion of nocturnal versus diurnal flight at the individual and species levels, and understanding how this behavior evolved across the avian tree, has remained methodologically challenging.
1
,
2
,
3 Such uncertainty is not only of theoretical importance but also limits our ability to mitigate conservation threats, particularly from light pollution and building collisions.
4
,
5
,
6 With multi-sensor geolocators... (More)

Most bird species are diurnal but drastically change their diel cycle of activity to migrate at night. Nocturnal migration has been documented using different methods (e.g., experiments, radar and radio tracking, and acoustic monitoring), but accurately quantifying the proportion of nocturnal versus diurnal flight at the individual and species levels, and understanding how this behavior evolved across the avian tree, has remained methodologically challenging.
1
,
2
,
3 Such uncertainty is not only of theoretical importance but also limits our ability to mitigate conservation threats, particularly from light pollution and building collisions.
4
,
5
,
6 With multi-sensor geolocators recording light, barometric pressure, and activity,
7
,
8 we reconstructed high-resolution migratory trajectories
9
,
10 for 411 individuals from 56 small- or medium-sized landbird species across four continents and measured the proportion of each flight that occurred during night or day. Our species-level quantification confirmed nocturnal migration as the dominant strategy among small landbirds, while also providing precise flight proportion estimates across a broad taxonomic sample and refining the classification of several species previously described as partial or facultative diurnal migrants. We found that birds initiated and ended migratory flights near civil dusk and dawn, thereby maximizing nocturnal travel. The phylogenetic signal we detected indicates that nocturnal migration is largely conserved within lineages. While nocturnal migration confers multiple advantages, the relative importance of the proposed drivers remains to be determined.
11
,
12 Our study provides species-specific quantification of nocturnal migration, highlights tracking gaps across taxa and regions, and opens new avenues for studying the evolutionary, ecological, and sensory drivers of nocturnal migratory flights.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Animals, Animal Migration/physiology, Birds/physiology, Flight, Animal, Circadian Rhythm
in
Current biology : CB
volume
36
issue
14
pages
3 - 3706
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:42419298
  • scopus:105044353169
ISSN
1879-0445
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.030
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
id
82459701-f817-4305-b6b2-72ecea32523e
date added to LUP
2026-07-27 12:39:22
date last changed
2026-09-08 07:06:11
@article{82459701-f817-4305-b6b2-72ecea32523e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Most bird species are diurnal but drastically change their diel cycle of activity to migrate at night. Nocturnal migration has been documented using different methods (e.g., experiments, radar and radio tracking, and acoustic monitoring), but accurately quantifying the proportion of nocturnal versus diurnal flight at the individual and species levels, and understanding how this behavior evolved across the avian tree, has remained methodologically challenging.<br>
 1<br>
 ,<br>
 2<br>
 ,<br>
 3 Such uncertainty is not only of theoretical importance but also limits our ability to mitigate conservation threats, particularly from light pollution and building collisions.<br>
 4<br>
 ,<br>
 5<br>
 ,<br>
 6 With multi-sensor geolocators recording light, barometric pressure, and activity,<br>
 7<br>
 ,<br>
 8 we reconstructed high-resolution migratory trajectories<br>
 9<br>
 ,<br>
 10 for 411 individuals from 56 small- or medium-sized landbird species across four continents and measured the proportion of each flight that occurred during night or day. Our species-level quantification confirmed nocturnal migration as the dominant strategy among small landbirds, while also providing precise flight proportion estimates across a broad taxonomic sample and refining the classification of several species previously described as partial or facultative diurnal migrants. We found that birds initiated and ended migratory flights near civil dusk and dawn, thereby maximizing nocturnal travel. The phylogenetic signal we detected indicates that nocturnal migration is largely conserved within lineages. While nocturnal migration confers multiple advantages, the relative importance of the proposed drivers remains to be determined.<br>
 11<br>
 ,<br>
 12 Our study provides species-specific quantification of nocturnal migration, highlights tracking gaps across taxa and regions, and opens new avenues for studying the evolutionary, ecological, and sensory drivers of nocturnal migratory flights.<br>
 </p>}},
  author       = {{Dufour, Paul and Nussbaumer, Raphaël and Doniol-Valcroze, Paul and Rime, Yann and Adamík, Peter and Åkesson, Susanne and Arlettaz, Raphaël and Barras, Arnaud G and Batbayar, Nyambayar and Beggs, Ian and Bell, Fraser and Benito Ruiz, Alberto and Bensch, Staffan and Bocher, Pierrick and Boves, Than and Brodersen, Jesper and Burgess, Malcolm and Burnus, Lars and Caballero-Lopez, Violeta and Capilla-Lasheras, Pablo and Champagnon, Jocelyn and Contina, Andrea and Conway, Greg and Cooper, Nathan W and Davaasuren, Batmunkh and Donahue, Emily R and Dossman, Bryant C and Duriez, Olivier and Evens, Ruben and Fossøy, Frode and Galletta, Katie J and Günther, Astrid and Hedenström, Anders and Heim, Wieland and Hewson, Chris and Illa, Marc and Jackson, Colin and Jiguet, Frédéric and Johnson, Erik I and Johnson, Matthew and Klement, Diane and Kulkarni, Sonam and Lathouwers, Michiel and Liechti, Felix and Liedvogel, Miriam and Lutgen, Dave and Macías-Torres, Pablo and Meier, Christoph M and Nergui, Jugdernamjil and Osinubi, Samuel Temidayo and Pardo de Santayana, Gonzalo and Procházka, Petr and Reif, Jiří and Rhyne, Garrett and Rushing, Clark and Sjöberg, Sissel and Stokke, Bård G and Szarmach, Stephanie and Thorup, Kasper and Toews, David and Tonra, Christopher M and Tøttrup, Anders P and Tyrrell, Jennifer and Wong, Joanna B and Worm, Alexander and Wynn, Joe and Yohannes, Elizabeth and Zhao, Tianhao and Helm, Barbara and Briedis, Martins}},
  issn         = {{1879-0445}},
  keywords     = {{Animals; Animal Migration/physiology; Birds/physiology; Flight, Animal; Circadian Rhythm}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{14}},
  pages        = {{3--3706}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current biology : CB}},
  title        = {{Multi-sensor tracking reveals the extent of nocturnal migration in landbirds}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.030}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.cub.2026.06.030}},
  volume       = {{36}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}