The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media was previously poorly known. Three tracks in 2010 suggested a remarkable migratory behaviour including long and fast overland non-stop flights (Klaassen et al. 2011). Here we present the migration pattern of Swedish male great snipes, based on 19 indi...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:512131 2023-05-15T16:19:28+02:00 The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme Lindström, Åke Alerstam, Thomas Bahlenberg, Peter Ekblom, Robert Fox, James W. Råghall, Johan Klaassen, Raymond H. G. 2016-05 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/1/migration%20of%20the%20great%20snipe%20AAM.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 en eng Wiley https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/1/migration%20of%20the%20great%20snipe%20AAM.pdf Lindström, Åke; Alerstam, Thomas; Bahlenberg, Peter; Ekblom, Robert; Fox, James W.; Råghall, Johan; Klaassen, Raymond H. G. 2016 The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme. Journal of Avian Biology, 47 (3). 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 <https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2016 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 2023-02-04T19:42:20Z The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media was previously poorly known. Three tracks in 2010 suggested a remarkable migratory behaviour including long and fast overland non-stop flights (Klaassen et al. 2011). Here we present the migration pattern of Swedish male great snipes, based on 19 individuals tracked by light-level geolocators in four different years. About half of the birds made stopover(s) in northern Europe in early autumn. They left the breeding area 15 days earlier than those which flew directly to sub-Sahara, suggesting two distinct autumn migration strategies. The autumn trans-Sahara flights were on average 5500 km long, lasted 64 h, and were flown at ground speeds of 25 m s-1 (90 km h-1). The arrival in the Sahel zone of West Africa coincided with the wet season there, and the birds stayed for on average three weeks. The birds arrived at their wintering grounds around the lower stretches of the Congo River in late September and stayed for seven months. In spring the great snipes made trans-Sahara flights of similar length and speed as in autumn, but the remaining migration through eastern Europe was notably slow. All birds returned to the breeding grounds within one week around mid-May. The annual cycle was characterized by relaxed temporal synchronization between individuals during the autumn-winter period, with maximum variation at the arrival in the wintering area. Synchronization increased in spring, with minimum time variation at arrival in the breeding area. This suggests that arrival date in the breeding area is under strong stabilizing selection, while there is room for more flexibility in autumn and arrival to the wintering area. The details of the fast non-stop flights remain to be elucidated, but the identification of the main stopover and wintering areas is important for future conservation work on this red-listed bird species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Gallinago media great snipe Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Journal of Avian Biology 47 3 321 334 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media was previously poorly known. Three tracks in 2010 suggested a remarkable migratory behaviour including long and fast overland non-stop flights (Klaassen et al. 2011). Here we present the migration pattern of Swedish male great snipes, based on 19 individuals tracked by light-level geolocators in four different years. About half of the birds made stopover(s) in northern Europe in early autumn. They left the breeding area 15 days earlier than those which flew directly to sub-Sahara, suggesting two distinct autumn migration strategies. The autumn trans-Sahara flights were on average 5500 km long, lasted 64 h, and were flown at ground speeds of 25 m s-1 (90 km h-1). The arrival in the Sahel zone of West Africa coincided with the wet season there, and the birds stayed for on average three weeks. The birds arrived at their wintering grounds around the lower stretches of the Congo River in late September and stayed for seven months. In spring the great snipes made trans-Sahara flights of similar length and speed as in autumn, but the remaining migration through eastern Europe was notably slow. All birds returned to the breeding grounds within one week around mid-May. The annual cycle was characterized by relaxed temporal synchronization between individuals during the autumn-winter period, with maximum variation at the arrival in the wintering area. Synchronization increased in spring, with minimum time variation at arrival in the breeding area. This suggests that arrival date in the breeding area is under strong stabilizing selection, while there is room for more flexibility in autumn and arrival to the wintering area. The details of the fast non-stop flights remain to be elucidated, but the identification of the main stopover and wintering areas is important for future conservation work on this red-listed bird species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lindström, Åke Alerstam, Thomas Bahlenberg, Peter Ekblom, Robert Fox, James W. Råghall, Johan Klaassen, Raymond H. G. |
spellingShingle |
Lindström, Åke Alerstam, Thomas Bahlenberg, Peter Ekblom, Robert Fox, James W. Råghall, Johan Klaassen, Raymond H. G. The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
author_facet |
Lindström, Åke Alerstam, Thomas Bahlenberg, Peter Ekblom, Robert Fox, James W. Råghall, Johan Klaassen, Raymond H. G. |
author_sort |
Lindström, Åke |
title |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
title_short |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
title_full |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
title_fullStr |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
title_full_unstemmed |
The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
title_sort |
migration of the great snipe gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/1/migration%20of%20the%20great%20snipe%20AAM.pdf https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 |
genre |
Gallinago media great snipe |
genre_facet |
Gallinago media great snipe |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512131/1/migration%20of%20the%20great%20snipe%20AAM.pdf Lindström, Åke; Alerstam, Thomas; Bahlenberg, Peter; Ekblom, Robert; Fox, James W.; Råghall, Johan; Klaassen, Raymond H. G. 2016 The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme. Journal of Avian Biology, 47 (3). 321-334. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 <https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00829 |
container_title |
Journal of Avian Biology |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
321 |
op_container_end_page |
334 |
_version_ |
1766005867059085312 |