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Proximate causes of avian protandry differ between subspecies with contrasting migration challenges

Schmaljohann, Heiko ; Meier, Christoph ; Arlt, Debora ; Bairlein, Franz ; Van Oosten, Herman ; Morbey, Yolanda E. LU ; Åkesson, Susanne LU orcid ; Buchmann, Martin ; Chernetsov, Nikita and Desaever, Robert , et al. (2016) In Behavioral Ecology 27(1). p.321-331
Abstract

In many migratory birds, males precede females during migration and arrival at the breeding sites. Three proximate mechanisms are proposed to explain this phenomenon of protandry: males 1) winter closer to breeding sites, 2) start spring migration earlier, and/or 3) migrate faster than females. So far, the relative contribution of these mechanisms to protandry is unknown. The present study investigated the importance of each of the 3 proximate mechanisms of protandry for a songbird migrant wintering in Africa, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). Two subspecies co-occur in Europe on migration, of which the leucorhoa northern wheatears breeding from Iceland to Canada have to cross the North Atlantic, whereas the nominate form... (More)

In many migratory birds, males precede females during migration and arrival at the breeding sites. Three proximate mechanisms are proposed to explain this phenomenon of protandry: males 1) winter closer to breeding sites, 2) start spring migration earlier, and/or 3) migrate faster than females. So far, the relative contribution of these mechanisms to protandry is unknown. The present study investigated the importance of each of the 3 proximate mechanisms of protandry for a songbird migrant wintering in Africa, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). Two subspecies co-occur in Europe on migration, of which the leucorhoa northern wheatears breeding from Iceland to Canada have to cross the North Atlantic, whereas the nominate form breeding in Europe does not face any significant sea barrier. We show that the leucorhoa subspecies had a significantly higher degree of protandry at stopover sites across Europe than the oenanthesubspecies (-6 vs. -2 days). Leucorhoa northern wheatear's higher degree of protandry was associated with a larger age effect, in which old males preceded young males, and greater sex-specific differences in wing shape and refueling yielding higher migration speeds in males than females. In oenanthe northern wheatears, light-level geolocators revealed that males did not winter closer to the breeding sites or migrate faster than females, but initiated spring migration earlier. Our results demonstrate that the significance of the mechanisms causing protandry can differ between related taxa and highlight the importance of the advancement in male arrival date with age as a potential factor shaping the degree of protandry.

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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Behavioral Ecology
volume
27
issue
1
pages
11 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:84980388993
ISSN
1045-2249
DOI
10.1093/beheco/arv160
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
id
91c6c6c7-755c-479b-8ed4-8136e5c96837
date added to LUP
2025-04-14 13:11:11
date last changed
2025-05-05 07:16:38
@article{91c6c6c7-755c-479b-8ed4-8136e5c96837,
  abstract     = {{<p>In many migratory birds, males precede females during migration and arrival at the breeding sites. Three proximate mechanisms are proposed to explain this phenomenon of protandry: males 1) winter closer to breeding sites, 2) start spring migration earlier, and/or 3) migrate faster than females. So far, the relative contribution of these mechanisms to protandry is unknown. The present study investigated the importance of each of the 3 proximate mechanisms of protandry for a songbird migrant wintering in Africa, the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). Two subspecies co-occur in Europe on migration, of which the leucorhoa northern wheatears breeding from Iceland to Canada have to cross the North Atlantic, whereas the nominate form breeding in Europe does not face any significant sea barrier. We show that the leucorhoa subspecies had a significantly higher degree of protandry at stopover sites across Europe than the oenanthesubspecies (-6 vs. -2 days). Leucorhoa northern wheatear's higher degree of protandry was associated with a larger age effect, in which old males preceded young males, and greater sex-specific differences in wing shape and refueling yielding higher migration speeds in males than females. In oenanthe northern wheatears, light-level geolocators revealed that males did not winter closer to the breeding sites or migrate faster than females, but initiated spring migration earlier. Our results demonstrate that the significance of the mechanisms causing protandry can differ between related taxa and highlight the importance of the advancement in male arrival date with age as a potential factor shaping the degree of protandry.</p>}},
  author       = {{Schmaljohann, Heiko and Meier, Christoph and Arlt, Debora and Bairlein, Franz and Van Oosten, Herman and Morbey, Yolanda E. and Åkesson, Susanne and Buchmann, Martin and Chernetsov, Nikita and Desaever, Robert and Elliott, John and Hellström, Magnus and Liechti, Felix and Lopez, Aïda and Middleton, John and Ottosson, Ulf and Pärt, Tomas and Spina, Fernando and Eikenaar, Cas}},
  issn         = {{1045-2249}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{321--331}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Behavioral Ecology}},
  title        = {{Proximate causes of avian protandry differ between subspecies with contrasting migration challenges}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arv160}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/beheco/arv160}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}