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 in...
Published in: | Biology Letters |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
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Royal Society
2012
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/16895/ http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/ |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:16895 2024-02-11T09:59:50+01:00 Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird Bairlein, Franz Norris, D.Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James Hussell, David J.T. Schmalijohann, Heiko 2012 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/16895/ http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/ unknown Royal Society Bairlein, Franz; Norris, D.Ryan; Nagel, Rolf; Bulte, Marc; Voigt, Christian C.; Fox, James; Hussell, David J.T.; Schmalijohann, Heiko. 2012 Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird. Biology Letters, 8 (4). 505-507. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2012 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 2024-01-26T00:03:20Z 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 Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Arctic Greenland Biology Letters 8 4 505 507 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
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 Hussell, David J.T. Schmalijohann, Heiko |
spellingShingle |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D.Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James Hussell, David J.T. Schmalijohann, 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 Hussell, David J.T. Schmalijohann, 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 |
Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/16895/ http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/ |
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_relation |
Bairlein, Franz; Norris, D.Ryan; Nagel, Rolf; Bulte, Marc; Voigt, Christian C.; Fox, James; Hussell, David J.T.; Schmalijohann, Heiko. 2012 Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird. Biology Letters, 8 (4). 505-507. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223> |
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_ |
1790595570580062208 |