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...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391447 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22337504 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3391447 2023-05-15T14:29:33+02:00 Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko 2012-08-23 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391447 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22337504 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391447 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22337504 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 This journal is © 2012 The Royal Society Animal Behaviour Text 2012 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 2013-09-04T09:46:07Z 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. Text Arctic birds Arctic Greenland North Atlantic Alaska PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Greenland Biology Letters 8 4 505 507 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Behaviour |
spellingShingle |
Animal Behaviour Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko Cross-hemisphere migration of a 25 g songbird |
topic_facet |
Animal Behaviour |
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 |
Text |
author |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, Heiko |
author_facet |
Bairlein, Franz Norris, D. Ryan Nagel, Rolf Bulte, Marc Voigt, Christian C. Fox, James W. Hussell, David J. T. Schmaljohann, 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 |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391447 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22337504 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
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 |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3391447 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22337504 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.1223 |
op_rights |
This journal is © 2012 The Royal Society |
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_ |
1766303526993002496 |