Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea
Most large raptors on migration avoid crossing the sea because of the lack of atmospheric convection over temperate seas. The osprey Pandion haliaetus is an exception among raptors, since it can fly over several hundred kilometres of open water. We equipped five juvenile ospreys with GPS-Acceleromet...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 2024-06-02T08:16:03+00:00 Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea Duriez, Olivier Peron, Guillaume Gremillet, David Sforzi, Andrea Monti, Flavio Tuscan Archipelago National Park 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 14, issue 12, page 20180687 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2018 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 2024-05-07T14:16:57Z Most large raptors on migration avoid crossing the sea because of the lack of atmospheric convection over temperate seas. The osprey Pandion haliaetus is an exception among raptors, since it can fly over several hundred kilometres of open water. We equipped five juvenile ospreys with GPS-Accelerometer–Magnetometer loggers. All birds were able to find and use thermal uplift while crossing the Mediterranean Sea, on average 7.5 times per 100 km, and could reach altitudes of 900 m above the sea surface. Their climb rate was 1.6 times slower than over land, and birds kept flapping most of the time while circling in the thermals, indicating that convections cells were weaker than over land. The frequency of thermal soaring was correlated with the difference between the sea surface and air temperature, indicating that atmospheric convection occurred when surface waters were warmer than the overlaying air. These observations help explain the transoceanic cosmopolitan distribution of osprey, and question the widely held assumption that water bodies represent strict barriers for large raptors. Article in Journal/Newspaper osprey Pandion haliaetus The Royal Society Biology Letters 14 12 20180687 |
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Open Polar |
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The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Most large raptors on migration avoid crossing the sea because of the lack of atmospheric convection over temperate seas. The osprey Pandion haliaetus is an exception among raptors, since it can fly over several hundred kilometres of open water. We equipped five juvenile ospreys with GPS-Accelerometer–Magnetometer loggers. All birds were able to find and use thermal uplift while crossing the Mediterranean Sea, on average 7.5 times per 100 km, and could reach altitudes of 900 m above the sea surface. Their climb rate was 1.6 times slower than over land, and birds kept flapping most of the time while circling in the thermals, indicating that convections cells were weaker than over land. The frequency of thermal soaring was correlated with the difference between the sea surface and air temperature, indicating that atmospheric convection occurred when surface waters were warmer than the overlaying air. These observations help explain the transoceanic cosmopolitan distribution of osprey, and question the widely held assumption that water bodies represent strict barriers for large raptors. |
author2 |
Tuscan Archipelago National Park |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Duriez, Olivier Peron, Guillaume Gremillet, David Sforzi, Andrea Monti, Flavio |
spellingShingle |
Duriez, Olivier Peron, Guillaume Gremillet, David Sforzi, Andrea Monti, Flavio Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
author_facet |
Duriez, Olivier Peron, Guillaume Gremillet, David Sforzi, Andrea Monti, Flavio |
author_sort |
Duriez, Olivier |
title |
Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
title_short |
Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
title_full |
Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
title_fullStr |
Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
title_sort |
migrating ospreys use thermal uplift over the open sea |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 |
genre |
osprey Pandion haliaetus |
genre_facet |
osprey Pandion haliaetus |
op_source |
Biology Letters volume 14, issue 12, page 20180687 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0687 |
container_title |
Biology Letters |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
20180687 |
_version_ |
1800740393449422848 |