A Migratory Divide Among Red-Necked Phalaropes in the Western Palearctic Reveals Contrasting Migration and Wintering Movement Strategies

• Published in: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: van Bemmelen, Rob, Kolbeinsson, Yann, Ramos, Raül, Gilg, Olivier, Alves, José, F., Smith, Malcolm, Schekkerman, Hans, Lehikoinen, Aleksi, Petersen, Ib Krag, Þórisson, Böðvar, Sokolov, Aleksandr, Välimäki, Kaisa, van Der Meer, Tim, Okill, J. David, Bolton, Mark, Moe, Borge, Hanssen, Sveinn Are, Bollache, Loïc, Petersen, Aevar, Thorstensen, Sverrir, González-Solís, Jacob, Klaassen, Raymond, Tulp, Ingrid
• Other Authors: Wageningen University and Research Wageningen (WUR), Departament de Biologia Animal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona = Autonomous University of Barcelona = Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249) (LCE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Franche-Comté (UFC), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC)-Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté COMUE (UBFC), Universidade do Porto = University of Porto, SOVON-Dutch Center for Field Ornithology, Dutch Center for Field Ornithology, Arctic Research Station of Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (UB RAS), Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim (NTNU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Departament de Biologia Animal (Vertebrats), Universitat de Barcelona (UB)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: flexibility; itinerancy; migration strategy; Phalaropus lobatus; plasticity; red-necked phalarope; [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; Fennoscandia; Fennoscandian; North Atlantic; Red-necked Phalarope
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02535685; https://hal.science/hal-02535685/document; https://hal.science/hal-02535685/file/689396.pdf; https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00086

International audience Non-breeding movement strategies of migratory birds may be expected to be flexibly adjusted to the distribution and quality of habitat, but few studies compare movement strategies among populations using distinct migration routes and wintering areas. In our study, individual movement strategies of red-necked phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus), a long-distance migratory wader which uses saline waters in the non-breeding period, were studied using light-level geolocators. Results revealed a migratory divide between two populations with distinct migration routes and wintering areas: one breeding in the north-eastern North Atlantic and migrating ca. 10,000 km oversea to the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, and the other breeding in Fennoscandia and Russia migrating ca. 6,000 km—largely over land—to the Arabian Sea (Indian Ocean). In line with our expectations, the transoceanic migration between the North Atlantic and the Pacific was associated with proportionately longer wings, a more even spread of stopovers in autumn and a higher migration speed in spring compared to the migration between Fennoscandian-Russian breeding grounds and the Arabian Sea. In the wintering period, birds wintering in the Pacific were stationary in roughly a single area, whereas individuals wintering in the Arabian Sea moved extensively between different areas, reflecting differences in spatio-temporal variation in primary productivity between the two wintering areas. Our study is unique in showing how habitat distribution shapes movement strategies over the entire non-breeding period within a species.