TY - JOUR
T1 - Rush or relax
T2 - migration tactics of a nocturnal insectivore in response to ecological barriers
AU - Lathouwers, Michiel
AU - Artois, Tom
AU - Dendoncker, Nicolas
AU - Beenaerts, Natalie
AU - Conway, Greg
AU - Henderson, Ian
AU - Kowalczyk, Céline
AU - Davaasuren, Batmunkh
AU - Bayrgur, Soddelgerekh
AU - Shewring, Mike
AU - Cross, Tony
AU - Ulenaers, Eddy
AU - Liechti, Felix
AU - Evens, Ruben
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank K. Robert, G. Flipkens and M. Evens for help during fieldwork. K. Thijs, A. Loenders, K. Vanmarcke, and Fien and Fleur Evens for support. Belgian permissions were granted by the Belgian military (military area of Klein Schietveld), Agency for Nature and Forest and Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences. RE wishes to thank Dr. Bart Kempenaers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology for his financial and intellectual support. C.K. was supported by the FWO (K216419N) and the King Leopold III Fund. The Swiss federal office for environment contributed financial support for the development of the data loggers (UTF-Nr. 254, 332, 363, 400). GC and IH wish to acknowledge the help and financial support received from Mark Constantine, Forestry England, and the British Birds Charitable Trust.
Funding Information:
ML was funded by a BOF-mandate at Hasselt University and University of Namur (R-9983). RE was supported by the Max Planck Society. C.K. was supported by the FWO (K216419N) and the King Leopold III Fund. The Swiss federal office for environment contributed financial support for the development of the data loggers (UTF-Nr. 254, 332, 363, 400).
Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank K. Robert, G. Flipkens and M. Evens for help during fieldwork. K. Thijs, A. Loenders, K. Vanmarcke, and Fien and Fleur Evens for support. Belgian permissions were granted by the Belgian military (military area of Klein Schietveld), Agency for Nature and Forest and Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences. RE wishes to thank Dr. Bart Kempenaers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology for his financial and intellectual support. C.K. was supported by the FWO (K216419N) and the King Leopold III Fund. The Swiss federal office for environment contributed financial support for the development of the data loggers (UTF-Nr. 254, 332, 363, 400). GC and IH wish to acknowledge the help and financial support received from Mark Constantine, Forestry England, and the British Birds Charitable Trust.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/3/23
Y1 - 2022/3/23
N2 - During their annual migration, avian migrants alternate stopover periods, for refuelling, with migratory flight bouts. We hypothesise that European Nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) adapt their daily migration tactics in association with biomes. We tracked the autumn migration of 24 European Nightjars, from breeding populations in Mongolia, Belgium and UK, using GPS-loggers and multi-sensor data loggers. We quantified crepuscular and nocturnal migration and foraging probabilities, as well as daily travel speed and flight altitude during active migration in response to biomes. Nightjars adopt a rush tactic, reflected in high daily travel speed, flight altitude and high migration probabilities at dusk and at night, when travelling through ecological barriers. Migration is slower in semi-open, hospitable biomes. This is reflected in high foraging probabilities at dusk, lower daily travel speed and lower migration probabilities at dusk. Our study shows how nightjars switch migration tactics during autumn migration, and suggest nightjars alternate between feeding and short migratory flight bouts within the same night when travelling through suitable habitats. How this may affect individuals' fuel stores and whether different biomes provide refuelling opportunities en route remains to be investigated, to understand how future land-use change may affect migration patterns and survival probabilities.
AB - During their annual migration, avian migrants alternate stopover periods, for refuelling, with migratory flight bouts. We hypothesise that European Nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) adapt their daily migration tactics in association with biomes. We tracked the autumn migration of 24 European Nightjars, from breeding populations in Mongolia, Belgium and UK, using GPS-loggers and multi-sensor data loggers. We quantified crepuscular and nocturnal migration and foraging probabilities, as well as daily travel speed and flight altitude during active migration in response to biomes. Nightjars adopt a rush tactic, reflected in high daily travel speed, flight altitude and high migration probabilities at dusk and at night, when travelling through ecological barriers. Migration is slower in semi-open, hospitable biomes. This is reflected in high foraging probabilities at dusk, lower daily travel speed and lower migration probabilities at dusk. Our study shows how nightjars switch migration tactics during autumn migration, and suggest nightjars alternate between feeding and short migratory flight bouts within the same night when travelling through suitable habitats. How this may affect individuals' fuel stores and whether different biomes provide refuelling opportunities en route remains to be investigated, to understand how future land-use change may affect migration patterns and survival probabilities.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126871969&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://rdcu.be/cKDTr
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-09106-y
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-09106-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 35322145
AN - SCOPUS:85126871969
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 4964
ER -
