Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected
We have studied the nocturnal flight behaviour of the common swift (Apus apus L.), by the use of a tracking radar. Birds were tracked from Lund University in southern Sweden during spring migration, summer roosting flights and autumn migration. Flight speeds were compared with predictions from fligh...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2009
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690467 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324733 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2690467 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:2690467 2023-05-15T14:17:13+02:00 Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected Henningsson, P. Karlsson, H. Bäckman, J. Alerstam, T. Hedenström, A. 2009-03-25 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690467 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324733 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690467 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324733 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 © 2009 The Royal Society Research Article Text 2009 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 2013-09-02T13:32:58Z We have studied the nocturnal flight behaviour of the common swift (Apus apus L.), by the use of a tracking radar. Birds were tracked from Lund University in southern Sweden during spring migration, summer roosting flights and autumn migration. Flight speeds were compared with predictions from flight mechanical and optimal migration theories. During spring, flight speeds were predicted to be higher than during both summer and autumn due to time restriction. In such cases, birds fly at a flight speed that maximizes the overall speed of migration. For summer roosting flights, speeds were predicted to be lower than during both spring and autumn since the predicted flight speed is the minimum power speed that involves the lowest energy consumption per unit time. During autumn, we expected flight speeds to be higher than during summer but lower than during spring since the expected flight speed is the maximum range speed, which involves the lowest energy consumption per unit distance. Flight speeds during spring were indeed higher than during both summer and autumn, which indicates time-selected spring migration. Speeds during autumn migration were very similar to those recorded during summer roosting flights. The general result shows that swifts change their flight speed between different flight behaviours to a smaller extent than expected. Furthermore, the difference between flight speeds during migration and roosting among swifts was found to be less pronounced than previously recorded. Text Apus apus PubMed Central (PMC) Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276 1666 2395 2401 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Research Article |
spellingShingle |
Research Article Henningsson, P. Karlsson, H. Bäckman, J. Alerstam, T. Hedenström, A. Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
We have studied the nocturnal flight behaviour of the common swift (Apus apus L.), by the use of a tracking radar. Birds were tracked from Lund University in southern Sweden during spring migration, summer roosting flights and autumn migration. Flight speeds were compared with predictions from flight mechanical and optimal migration theories. During spring, flight speeds were predicted to be higher than during both summer and autumn due to time restriction. In such cases, birds fly at a flight speed that maximizes the overall speed of migration. For summer roosting flights, speeds were predicted to be lower than during both spring and autumn since the predicted flight speed is the minimum power speed that involves the lowest energy consumption per unit time. During autumn, we expected flight speeds to be higher than during summer but lower than during spring since the expected flight speed is the maximum range speed, which involves the lowest energy consumption per unit distance. Flight speeds during spring were indeed higher than during both summer and autumn, which indicates time-selected spring migration. Speeds during autumn migration were very similar to those recorded during summer roosting flights. The general result shows that swifts change their flight speed between different flight behaviours to a smaller extent than expected. Furthermore, the difference between flight speeds during migration and roosting among swifts was found to be less pronounced than previously recorded. |
format |
Text |
author |
Henningsson, P. Karlsson, H. Bäckman, J. Alerstam, T. Hedenström, A. |
author_facet |
Henningsson, P. Karlsson, H. Bäckman, J. Alerstam, T. Hedenström, A. |
author_sort |
Henningsson, P. |
title |
Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
title_short |
Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
title_full |
Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
title_fullStr |
Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
title_full_unstemmed |
Flight speeds of swifts (Apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
title_sort |
flight speeds of swifts (apus apus): seasonal differences smaller than expected |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690467 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324733 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 |
genre |
Apus apus |
genre_facet |
Apus apus |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690467 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19324733 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 |
op_rights |
© 2009 The Royal Society |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.0195 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
276 |
container_issue |
1666 |
container_start_page |
2395 |
op_container_end_page |
2401 |
_version_ |
1766289118492360704 |