Groping in the Fog: Soaring Migrants Exhibit Wider Scatter in Flight Directions and Respond Differently to Wind Under Low Visibility Conditions

Becciu, Paolo; Panuccio, Michele; Dell’Omo, Giacomo; Sapir, Nir

doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.745002

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…and maximizing energy gain [51,52]. In addition, factors such as predator avoidance [53], availability of roost sites [54] and food [55], and extreme conditions [1,56,57] contribute to migratory decisions in ways not considered here and that may differ between ages. Migration is a complex behaviour that can be improved by experience [21,23,25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Time is important among these as a currency governing migratory decisions along with energy; optimal migration is a compromise between minimizing time and maximizing energy gain [51,52]. In addition, factors such as predator avoidance [53], availability of roost sites [54] and food [55], and extreme conditions [1,56,57] contribute to migratory decisions in ways not considered here and that may differ between ages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

et al. 2022

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Migration is a complex behaviour that is costly in terms of time, energy and risk of mortality. Thermal soaring birds rely on airflow, specifically wind support and uplift, to offset their energetic costs of flight. Their migratory routes are a record of movement decisions to negotiate the atmospheric environment and achieve efficiency. We expected that, regardless of age, birds use wind support to select their routes. Because thermal soaring is a complex flight behaviour that young birds need to learn, we expected that, as individuals gain more experience, their movement decisions will also increasingly favour the best thermal uplift conditions. We quantified how route choice during autumn migration of young European honey buzzards ( Pernis apivorus ) was adjusted to wind support and uplift over up to 4 years of migration and compared this with the choices of adult birds. We found that wind support was important in all migrations. However, we did not find an increase in the use of thermal uplifts. This could be due to the species-specific learning period and/or an artefact of the spatio-temporal scale of our uplift proxies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

et al. 2022

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“…For example, animals that rest and refuel during migration may need to consider available sleeping and foraging sites 60 . Depredation during migration 61 , disturbance 62 , bad weather 63,64 , and health 65,66 can also affect migratory decisions and may shape routes. When migrating repeatedly, spatial memory most likely also plays a significant role in migratory route decisions, which could be quantified using a previous year's range as a predictor 67 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience reduces route selection on conspecifics by the collectively migrating white stork

Brønnvik,

Nourani,

Fiedler

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Migration can be an energetically costly behavior with strong fitness consequences in terms of mortality and reproduction. The fact that costs and benefits may change with age and experience raises the question of whether experience changes the criteria that individuals use to select their migratory routes. Here we investigate the effect of age on route selection criteria in a collectively migrating soaring bird, the white stork (Ciconia ciconia). We perform step selection analysis on a longitudinal data set tracking 158 white storks over up to nine years to quantify how they select their routes on the basis of the social and atmospheric environments, and to examine how this selection changes with age. We find clear ontogenetic shifts in route selection criteria. Juveniles choose routes that have good atmospheric conditions and high conspecific densities. Yet, as they gain experience storks’ selection on the availability of social information reduces—after their fifth migration experienced birds also choose routes with low conspecific densities. Thus, our results suggest that as individuals age, they gradually replace information gleaned from other individuals with information gained from experience, allowing them to shift their migration timing and increasing the time scale at which they select their routes.

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“…Time is important among these as a currency governing migratory decisions along with energy; optimal migration is a compromise between minimizing time and maximizing energy gain [43, 44]. In addition, factors such as predator avoidance [45], availability of roost sites [46] and food [47], and extreme conditions [48, 1, 49] contribute to migratory decisions in ways not considered here and that may differ between ages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

Brønnvik

Safi

Vansteelant

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Understanding how animals develop their ability to perform complex behaviors is fundamental to understanding their fitness and plasticity under global change. Migration can be a costly behavior in terms of time, energy, and mortality, and minimizing these costs is key to survival and reproduction. Thermal soaring birds rely on airflow to offset their energetic costs of flight. Their migratory routes are a record of movement decisions to negotiate the atmospheric environment and achieve efficiency, for example by flying in prevailing winds. We expected that, as individuals gain more experience, these movement decision will also increasingly favor the best thermal uplift conditions, which allow them to fly with minimal energy expenditure. We quantified how route choice during autumn migration of young European honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) was adjusted to wind support and uplift over up to four years of migration and compared this to the choices of adult birds. We found that wind support was important in all migrations. However, we did not find an increase in the use of thermal uplifts. The young birds varied their responses to airflow, yet they may require more than four years to attain a stable, optimal behavior.

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Groping in the Fog: Soaring Migrants Exhibit Wider Scatter in Flight Directions and Respond Differently to Wind Under Low Visibility Conditions

Cited by 12 publications

References 58 publications

Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

Experience reduces route selection on conspecifics by the collectively migrating white stork

Experience does not change the importance of wind support for migratory route selection by a soaring bird

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