Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor
Advances in tracking technologies have revealed the diverse migration patterns of birds, which are critical for range mapping and population estimation. Population trends are usually estimated in breeding ranges where birds remain stationary, but for species that breed in remote areas like the Arcti...
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| Format: | Article |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2024-11-01
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/87668 |
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| author | Ivan Pokrovsky Teja Curk Andreas Dietz Ivan Fufachev Olga Kulikova Sebastian Rößler Martin Wikelski |
| author_facet | Ivan Pokrovsky Teja Curk Andreas Dietz Ivan Fufachev Olga Kulikova Sebastian Rößler Martin Wikelski |
| author_sort | Ivan Pokrovsky |
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| description | Advances in tracking technologies have revealed the diverse migration patterns of birds, which are critical for range mapping and population estimation. Population trends are usually estimated in breeding ranges where birds remain stationary, but for species that breed in remote areas like the Arctic, these trends are often assessed in over-wintering ranges. Assessing population trends during the wintering season is challenging due to the extensive movements of birds in these ranges, which requires a deep understanding of the movement dynamics. However, these movements remain understudied, particularly in the mid-latitudes, where many Arctic breeders overwinter, increasing uncertainty in their ranges and numbers. Here, we show that the Arctic breeding raptor Rough-legged buzzard, which overwinters in the mid-latitudes, has a specific wintering strategy. After migrating ca. 1500 km from the Arctic to mid-latitudes, the birds continue to move throughout the entire over-wintering period, traveling another 1000 km southwest and then back northeast as the snowline advances. This continuous movement makes their wintering range dynamic throughout the season. In essence, this movement represents an extension of the quick migration process, albeit at a slower pace, and we have termed this migration pattern ‘foxtrot migration’, drawing an analogy to the alternating fast and slow movements of the foxtrot dance. These results highlight the potential errors in range mapping from single mid-winter surveys and emphasize the importance of this migration pattern in assessing the conservation status of bird species. Understanding this migration pattern could help to correctly estimate bird populations in over-wintering ranges, which is especially important for species that nest in hard-to-reach regions such as the Arctic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e56ad02a6de34f738fcc04e704be64a3 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
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| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj-art-e56ad02a6de34f738fcc04e704be64a32024-11-08T12:48:24ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2024-11-011210.7554/eLife.87668Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptorIvan Pokrovsky0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6533-674XTeja Curk1Andreas Dietz2Ivan Fufachev3Olga Kulikova4Sebastian Rößler5Martin Wikelski6Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, GermanyLeibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Wessling, GermanyInstitute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Yekaterinburg, Russian FederationInstitute of the Biological Problems of the North, Magadan, Russian FederationDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), Wessling, GermanyDepartment of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Radolfzell, Germany; Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyAdvances in tracking technologies have revealed the diverse migration patterns of birds, which are critical for range mapping and population estimation. Population trends are usually estimated in breeding ranges where birds remain stationary, but for species that breed in remote areas like the Arctic, these trends are often assessed in over-wintering ranges. Assessing population trends during the wintering season is challenging due to the extensive movements of birds in these ranges, which requires a deep understanding of the movement dynamics. However, these movements remain understudied, particularly in the mid-latitudes, where many Arctic breeders overwinter, increasing uncertainty in their ranges and numbers. Here, we show that the Arctic breeding raptor Rough-legged buzzard, which overwinters in the mid-latitudes, has a specific wintering strategy. After migrating ca. 1500 km from the Arctic to mid-latitudes, the birds continue to move throughout the entire over-wintering period, traveling another 1000 km southwest and then back northeast as the snowline advances. This continuous movement makes their wintering range dynamic throughout the season. In essence, this movement represents an extension of the quick migration process, albeit at a slower pace, and we have termed this migration pattern ‘foxtrot migration’, drawing an analogy to the alternating fast and slow movements of the foxtrot dance. These results highlight the potential errors in range mapping from single mid-winter surveys and emphasize the importance of this migration pattern in assessing the conservation status of bird species. Understanding this migration pattern could help to correctly estimate bird populations in over-wintering ranges, which is especially important for species that nest in hard-to-reach regions such as the Arctic.https://elifesciences.org/articles/87668migration patternsbird migrationspecies rangesmovement ecologypopulation assessmentconservation biology |
| spellingShingle | Ivan Pokrovsky Teja Curk Andreas Dietz Ivan Fufachev Olga Kulikova Sebastian Rößler Martin Wikelski Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor eLife migration patterns bird migration species ranges movement ecology population assessment conservation biology |
| title | Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor |
| title_full | Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor |
| title_fullStr | Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor |
| title_short | Foxtrot migration and dynamic over-wintering range of an Arctic raptor |
| title_sort | foxtrot migration and dynamic over wintering range of an arctic raptor |
| topic | migration patterns bird migration species ranges movement ecology population assessment conservation biology |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/87668 |
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