Spatio-temporal distribution of migrating raptors: a comparison of ringing and satellite tracking

We describe the migration performance of three long-distance migrating raptors, osprey Pandion haliaetus, honey buzzard Pernis apivorus and marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, and one short-distance migrating raptor, common buzzard Buteo buteo based on Swedish ringing recoveries and satellite telemetr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Roine Str, Raymond H. G. Klaassen, Kasper Thorup
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.574.3447
http://www.zmuc.dk/VerWeb/staff/kthorup/Kt-pdf/JAB40-500.pdf
Description
Summary:We describe the migration performance of three long-distance migrating raptors, osprey Pandion haliaetus, honey buzzard Pernis apivorus and marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus, and one short-distance migrating raptor, common buzzard Buteo buteo based on Swedish ringing recoveries and satellite telemetry, respectively. Tracking by satellite can provide detailed information about the exact timing of migration, migration speed, migration directions, stopover sites, and detours, thereby overcoming many of the potential biases found in ring recoveries. Comparison of the results from these two methods revealed agreement in the geographical distribution of the studied Swedish raptor populations during autumn migration and the winter period. Satellite tracking, nevertheless, provided much more detailed information in Africa and revealed significantly faster migration progress than indicated by ring recoveries. The implications of our findings for interpretation of migratory connectivity and the understanding of migration are discussed. The difficulties associated with following individual migrat-ing birds over longer distances have prevented a thorough understanding of this critical aspect of their lives. Even describing overall migration patterns in detail have proved difficult, and such data are important in studies of avian ecology and conservation. For example migration counts