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Timing of songbird migration: individual consistency within and between seasons

Thorup, Kasper ; Vardanis, Yannis LU ; Tottrup, Anders P. ; Willemoes Kristensen, Mikkel LU and Alerstam, Thomas LU (2013) In Journal of Avian Biology 44(5). p.486-494
Abstract
The timing of migration is generally considered of utmost importance for reproduction and survival, and timing is furthermore considered to be under strong genetic control. The individual timing of migration is presumably a result of a combination of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors as well as some degree of randomness. However, potential differences in consistency of timing between spring and autumn and between migration strategies are not well studied. Using long-term Danish ringing data, we study such differences by correlating date of ringing with date of recaptures for a suite of common migrating passerines in Denmark. We found that individuals marked early in one year tended to be recaptured early in the same season in a... (More)
The timing of migration is generally considered of utmost importance for reproduction and survival, and timing is furthermore considered to be under strong genetic control. The individual timing of migration is presumably a result of a combination of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors as well as some degree of randomness. However, potential differences in consistency of timing between spring and autumn and between migration strategies are not well studied. Using long-term Danish ringing data, we study such differences by correlating date of ringing with date of recaptures for a suite of common migrating passerines in Denmark. We found that individuals marked early in one year tended to be recaptured early in the same season in a following year indicating that individuals time their migration in spring or autumn similarly between years. The relationship between spring and autumn migration was overall slightly negative, suggesting that birds arriving early in spring tended to depart late in autumn and vice versa. There were only weak effects of geographical location on timing, suggesting that the patterns found are not primarily caused by different populations being involved. Knowledge of individual consistency in migration timing is needed for understanding changes in migration timing. The consistent patterns of repeatabilities within and between seasons found here highlight the importance of timing of migration in songbirds. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Avian Biology
volume
44
issue
5
pages
486 - 494
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000325005900009
  • scopus:84884725877
ISSN
0908-8857
DOI
10.1111/j.1600-048X.2013.05871.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db65cdfd-0379-41ea-94af-2a4bd0e21208 (old id 4172261)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:11:26
date last changed
2022-07-21 23:52:56
@article{db65cdfd-0379-41ea-94af-2a4bd0e21208,
  abstract     = {{The timing of migration is generally considered of utmost importance for reproduction and survival, and timing is furthermore considered to be under strong genetic control. The individual timing of migration is presumably a result of a combination of genetic, phenotypic and environmental factors as well as some degree of randomness. However, potential differences in consistency of timing between spring and autumn and between migration strategies are not well studied. Using long-term Danish ringing data, we study such differences by correlating date of ringing with date of recaptures for a suite of common migrating passerines in Denmark. We found that individuals marked early in one year tended to be recaptured early in the same season in a following year indicating that individuals time their migration in spring or autumn similarly between years. The relationship between spring and autumn migration was overall slightly negative, suggesting that birds arriving early in spring tended to depart late in autumn and vice versa. There were only weak effects of geographical location on timing, suggesting that the patterns found are not primarily caused by different populations being involved. Knowledge of individual consistency in migration timing is needed for understanding changes in migration timing. The consistent patterns of repeatabilities within and between seasons found here highlight the importance of timing of migration in songbirds.}},
  author       = {{Thorup, Kasper and Vardanis, Yannis and Tottrup, Anders P. and Willemoes Kristensen, Mikkel and Alerstam, Thomas}},
  issn         = {{0908-8857}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{486--494}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Avian Biology}},
  title        = {{Timing of songbird migration: individual consistency within and between seasons}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2013.05871.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1600-048X.2013.05871.x}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}