Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits
Populations of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica; Scolopacidae) embark on some of the longest migrations known among birds. The baueri race breeds in western Alaska and spends the nonbreeding season a hemisphere away in New Zealand and eastern Australia; the menzbieri race breeds in Siberia an...
Published in: | The Condor |
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Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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2005
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/6683263/2005CondorGill.pdf |
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 2024-09-15T18:41:23+00:00 Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits Gill, Robert E. Piersma, Theunis Hufford, Garry Servranckx, Rene Riegen, Adrian 2005-02 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/6683263/2005CondorGill.pdf eng eng https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Gill , R E , Piersma , T , Hufford , G , Servranckx , R & Riegen , A 2005 , ' Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier : Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits ' , Condor , vol. 107 , no. 1 , pp. 1-20 . https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 Bar-tailed Godwit energetics flight mechanics Limosa lapponica migration Oceania wind-selected migration LONG-DISTANCE MIGRANT BIRD FLIGHT SHOREBIRD MIGRATION STOPOVER SITE GREAT KNOTS WIND-TUNNEL FAT BEHAVIOR WADERS ORGANS article 2005 ftunigroningenpu https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 2024-06-24T15:38:37Z Populations of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica; Scolopacidae) embark on some of the longest migrations known among birds. The baueri race breeds in western Alaska and spends the nonbreeding season a hemisphere away in New Zealand and eastern Australia; the menzbieri race breeds in Siberia and migrates to western and northern Australia. Although the Siberian birds are known to follow the coast of Asia during both migrations, the southern pathway followed by the Alaska breeders has remained unknown. Two questions have particular ecological importance: (1) do Alaska godwits migrate directly across the Pacific, a distance of 11 000 km? and (2) are they capable of doing this in a single flight without stopping to rest or refuel? We explored six lines of evidence to answer these questions. The distribution of resightings of marked birds of the baueri and menzbieri races was significantly different between northward and southward flights with virtually no marked baueri resighted along the Asian mainland during southward migration. The timing of southward migration of the two races further indicates the absence of a coastal Asia route by baueri with peak passage of godwits in general occurring there a month prior to the departure of most birds from Alaska. The use of a direct route across the Pacific is also supported by significantly more records of godwits reported from within a direct migration corridor than elsewhere in Oceania, and during,the September to November period than at other times of the year. The annual but rare occurrence of Hudsonian Godwits (L. haemastica) in New Zealand and the absence of their records along the Asian mainland also support a direct flight and are best explained by Hudsonian Godwits accompanying Bar-tailed Godwits from known communal staging areas in Alaska. Flight simulation models, extreme fat loads, and the apparent evolution of a wind-selected migration from Alaska further support a direct, nonstop flight. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alaska Siberia University of Groningen research database The Condor 107 1 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
topic |
Bar-tailed Godwit energetics flight mechanics Limosa lapponica migration Oceania wind-selected migration LONG-DISTANCE MIGRANT BIRD FLIGHT SHOREBIRD MIGRATION STOPOVER SITE GREAT KNOTS WIND-TUNNEL FAT BEHAVIOR WADERS ORGANS |
spellingShingle |
Bar-tailed Godwit energetics flight mechanics Limosa lapponica migration Oceania wind-selected migration LONG-DISTANCE MIGRANT BIRD FLIGHT SHOREBIRD MIGRATION STOPOVER SITE GREAT KNOTS WIND-TUNNEL FAT BEHAVIOR WADERS ORGANS Gill, Robert E. Piersma, Theunis Hufford, Garry Servranckx, Rene Riegen, Adrian Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
topic_facet |
Bar-tailed Godwit energetics flight mechanics Limosa lapponica migration Oceania wind-selected migration LONG-DISTANCE MIGRANT BIRD FLIGHT SHOREBIRD MIGRATION STOPOVER SITE GREAT KNOTS WIND-TUNNEL FAT BEHAVIOR WADERS ORGANS |
description |
Populations of the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica; Scolopacidae) embark on some of the longest migrations known among birds. The baueri race breeds in western Alaska and spends the nonbreeding season a hemisphere away in New Zealand and eastern Australia; the menzbieri race breeds in Siberia and migrates to western and northern Australia. Although the Siberian birds are known to follow the coast of Asia during both migrations, the southern pathway followed by the Alaska breeders has remained unknown. Two questions have particular ecological importance: (1) do Alaska godwits migrate directly across the Pacific, a distance of 11 000 km? and (2) are they capable of doing this in a single flight without stopping to rest or refuel? We explored six lines of evidence to answer these questions. The distribution of resightings of marked birds of the baueri and menzbieri races was significantly different between northward and southward flights with virtually no marked baueri resighted along the Asian mainland during southward migration. The timing of southward migration of the two races further indicates the absence of a coastal Asia route by baueri with peak passage of godwits in general occurring there a month prior to the departure of most birds from Alaska. The use of a direct route across the Pacific is also supported by significantly more records of godwits reported from within a direct migration corridor than elsewhere in Oceania, and during,the September to November period than at other times of the year. The annual but rare occurrence of Hudsonian Godwits (L. haemastica) in New Zealand and the absence of their records along the Asian mainland also support a direct flight and are best explained by Hudsonian Godwits accompanying Bar-tailed Godwits from known communal staging areas in Alaska. Flight simulation models, extreme fat loads, and the apparent evolution of a wind-selected migration from Alaska further support a direct, nonstop flight. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gill, Robert E. Piersma, Theunis Hufford, Garry Servranckx, Rene Riegen, Adrian |
author_facet |
Gill, Robert E. Piersma, Theunis Hufford, Garry Servranckx, Rene Riegen, Adrian |
author_sort |
Gill, Robert E. |
title |
Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
title_short |
Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
title_full |
Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
title_fullStr |
Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
title_full_unstemmed |
Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits |
title_sort |
crossing the ultimate ecological barrier:evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from alaska to new zealand and eastern australia by bar-tailed godwits |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/6683263/2005CondorGill.pdf |
genre |
Alaska Siberia |
genre_facet |
Alaska Siberia |
op_source |
Gill , R E , Piersma , T , Hufford , G , Servranckx , R & Riegen , A 2005 , ' Crossing the ultimate ecological barrier : Evidence for an 11000-km-long nonstop flight from Alaska to New Zealand and eastern Australia by Bar-tailed Godwits ' , Condor , vol. 107 , no. 1 , pp. 1-20 . https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/531c931d-e4bd-427c-a6ad-1496c81d44c0 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1650/7613 |
container_title |
The Condor |
container_volume |
107 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1 |
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1810485779383713792 |