Effects of predation danger on migration strategies of sandpipers. Oikos

• Main Authors: David B. Lank, Robert W. Butler, John Irel, Ronald C. Ydenberg
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Pacific; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.487.5584; http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/Lanketal2003Oikos.pdf

predation danger on migration strategies of sandpipers. – Oikos 103: 303–319. We examine the potential selective importance of predation danger on the evolution of migration strategies of arctic-breeding calidrid sandpipers. Adult calidrids truncate parental care for reasons not obviously related to levels of food abundance on the breeding areas or at migratory stopover sites, suggesting that a different trade-off occurs between providing additional care and adult survivorship. The southward migrations of adult western sandpipers precede those of migratory peregrine falcons by almost a month. By moving early and quickly, adults remain ahead of migrant falcons all the way to their non-breeding areas, where they rapidly moult flight feathers. They complete the moult just as falcons arrive in late September–October. By migrating early, they avoid exposure to falcons when they are unusually vulnera-ble, due to the requirements for fuelling migratory flight and of wing feather moult. Juvenile western sandpipers migrate south just as falcon numbers start to increase, but do not moult flight feathers in their first winter. Pacific dunlin use an alternative strategy of remaining and moulting in Alaska after falcons depart, and migrating to