Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird
The northern wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ) is a small (approx. 25 g), insectivorous migrant with one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the world, breeding from the eastern Canadian Arctic across Greenland, Eurasia and into Alaska (AK). However, there is no evidence that breeding populations...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 2024-09-30T14:28:24+00:00 Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 8, issue 4, page 505-507 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2012 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 2024-09-17T04:34:51Z The northern wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ) is a small (approx. 25 g), insectivorous migrant with one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the world, breeding from the eastern Canadian Arctic across Greenland, Eurasia and into Alaska (AK). However, there is no evidence that breeding populations in the New World have established overwintering sites in the Western Hemisphere. Using light-level geolocators, we demonstrate that individuals from these New World regions overwinter in northern sub-Sahara Africa, with Alaskan birds travelling approximately 14 500 km each way and an eastern Canadian Arctic bird crossing a wide stretch of the North Atlantic (approx. 3500 km). These remarkable journeys, particularly for a bird of this size, last between one to three months depending on breeding location and season (autumn/spring) and result in mean overall migration speeds of up to 290 km d −1 . Stable-hydrogen isotope analysis of winter-grown feathers sampled from breeding birds generally support the notion that Alaskan birds overwinter primarily in eastern Africa and eastern Canadian Arctic birds overwinter mainly in western Africa. Our results provide the first evidence of a migratory songbird capable of linking African ecosystems of the Old World with Arctic regions of the New World. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic birds Arctic Greenland North Atlantic Alaska The Royal Society Arctic Greenland Biology Letters 8 4 505 507 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The northern wheatear ( Oenanthe oenanthe ) is a small (approx. 25 g), insectivorous migrant with one of the largest ranges of any songbird in the world, breeding from the eastern Canadian Arctic across Greenland, Eurasia and into Alaska (AK). However, there is no evidence that breeding populations in the New World have established overwintering sites in the Western Hemisphere. Using light-level geolocators, we demonstrate that individuals from these New World regions overwinter in northern sub-Sahara Africa, with Alaskan birds travelling approximately 14 500 km each way and an eastern Canadian Arctic bird crossing a wide stretch of the North Atlantic (approx. 3500 km). These remarkable journeys, particularly for a bird of this size, last between one to three months depending on breeding location and season (autumn/spring) and result in mean overall migration speeds of up to 290 km d −1 . Stable-hydrogen isotope analysis of winter-grown feathers sampled from breeding birds generally support the notion that Alaskan birds overwinter primarily in eastern Africa and eastern Canadian Arctic birds overwinter mainly in western Africa. Our results provide the first evidence of a migratory songbird capable of linking African ecosystems of the Old World with Arctic regions of the New World. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko |
spellingShingle |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
author_facet |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko |
author_sort |
Bairlein, Franz |
title |
Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
title_short |
Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
title_full |
Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
title_fullStr |
Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
title_sort |
cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic birds Arctic Greenland North Atlantic Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic birds Arctic Greenland North Atlantic Alaska |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 8, issue 4, page 505-507 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
8 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
505 |
op_container_end_page |
507 |
_version_ |
1811634103736336384 |