Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant
Body condition (i.e. relative mass after correcting for structural size) affects the behaviour of migrating birds, but how body condition affects migratory performance, timing and fitness is still largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of relative body condition on individual departure decisi...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:5698639 2023-05-15T15:09:06+02:00 Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant Duijns, Sjoerd Niles, Lawrence J. Dey, Amanda Aubry, Yves Friis, Christian Koch, Stephanie Anderson, Alexandra M. Smith, Paul A. 2017-11-15 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5698639/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093218 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 en eng The Royal Society http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5698639/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 © 2017 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Ecology Text 2017 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 2017-12-03T01:32:50Z Body condition (i.e. relative mass after correcting for structural size) affects the behaviour of migrating birds, but how body condition affects migratory performance, timing and fitness is still largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of relative body condition on individual departure decisions, wind selectivity, flight speed and timing of migration for a long-distance migratory shorebird, the red knot Calidris canutus rufa. By using automated VHF telemetry on a continental scale, we studied knots' migratory movements with unprecedented temporal resolution over a 3-year period. Knots with a higher relative body condition left the staging site later than birds in lower condition, yet still arrived earlier to their Arctic breeding grounds compared to knots in lower relative body condition. They accomplished this by selecting more favourable winds at departure, thereby flying faster and making shorter stops en route. Individuals with a higher relative body condition in spring migrated south up to a month later than individuals in lower condition, suggesting that individuals in better condition were more likely to have bred successfully. Moreover, individuals with a lower relative body condition in spring had a lower probability of being detected in autumn, suggestive of increased mortality. The pressure to arrive early to the breeding grounds is considered to be an important constraint of migratory behaviour and this study highlights the important influence of body condition on migratory decisions, performance and potentially fitness of migrant birds. Text Arctic Calidris canutus Red Knot PubMed Central (PMC) Arctic Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284 1866 20171374 |
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PubMed Central (PMC) |
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language |
English |
topic |
Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Duijns, Sjoerd Niles, Lawrence J. Dey, Amanda Aubry, Yves Friis, Christian Koch, Stephanie Anderson, Alexandra M. Smith, Paul A. Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
topic_facet |
Ecology |
description |
Body condition (i.e. relative mass after correcting for structural size) affects the behaviour of migrating birds, but how body condition affects migratory performance, timing and fitness is still largely unknown. Here, we studied the effects of relative body condition on individual departure decisions, wind selectivity, flight speed and timing of migration for a long-distance migratory shorebird, the red knot Calidris canutus rufa. By using automated VHF telemetry on a continental scale, we studied knots' migratory movements with unprecedented temporal resolution over a 3-year period. Knots with a higher relative body condition left the staging site later than birds in lower condition, yet still arrived earlier to their Arctic breeding grounds compared to knots in lower relative body condition. They accomplished this by selecting more favourable winds at departure, thereby flying faster and making shorter stops en route. Individuals with a higher relative body condition in spring migrated south up to a month later than individuals in lower condition, suggesting that individuals in better condition were more likely to have bred successfully. Moreover, individuals with a lower relative body condition in spring had a lower probability of being detected in autumn, suggestive of increased mortality. The pressure to arrive early to the breeding grounds is considered to be an important constraint of migratory behaviour and this study highlights the important influence of body condition on migratory decisions, performance and potentially fitness of migrant birds. |
format |
Text |
author |
Duijns, Sjoerd Niles, Lawrence J. Dey, Amanda Aubry, Yves Friis, Christian Koch, Stephanie Anderson, Alexandra M. Smith, Paul A. |
author_facet |
Duijns, Sjoerd Niles, Lawrence J. Dey, Amanda Aubry, Yves Friis, Christian Koch, Stephanie Anderson, Alexandra M. Smith, Paul A. |
author_sort |
Duijns, Sjoerd |
title |
Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
title_short |
Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
title_full |
Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
title_fullStr |
Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
title_full_unstemmed |
Body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
title_sort |
body condition explains migratory performance of a long-distance migrant |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5698639/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093218 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Calidris canutus Red Knot |
genre_facet |
Arctic Calidris canutus Red Knot |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5698639/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29093218 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 |
op_rights |
© 2017 The Authors. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1374 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
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284 |
container_issue |
1866 |
container_start_page |
20171374 |
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1766340340719026176 |