Intra‐African movements of the African cuckooCuculus gularisas revealed by satellite telemetry

Abstract

Despite many bird species migrating regularly within the African continent, in response to rainfall and breeding opportunities, documented evidence of the spatiotemporal patterns of such movements is scarce. We use satellite telemetry to document the year round movement of an intra-African migrant breeding in the savannah zone of sub-Saharan Africa, the African cuckoo. After breeding in central Nigeria, the birds migrated to more forested sites in the Adamawa region of Cameroon (n = 2) and western Central African Republic (n = 1). Departure from the breeding ground coincided with deteriorating environmental conditions whereas arrival at the non-breeding sites matched period of increasing vegetation greenness. Migratory movements generally occurred during dark hours. In total, an average distance of 748 km in 66 d was covered during the post-breeding migration and 744 km in 27 d during return journey with considerable individual variation and with more stopover sites used during postbreeding migration. The diversity of migration routes followed suggests a relatively variable or flexible initial migration strategy, high individual route consistency as well as high fidelity for non-breeding grounds.

Dispersal in a house sparrow metapopulation: An integrative case study of genetic assignment calibrated with ecological data and pedigree information

“…Telemetry and capture-mark-recapture (CMR) methods are commonly used ecological monitoring tools to identify dispersing individuals. Telemetry methods may provide accurate information on movement, dispersal distance and direction (Cagua et al, 2015;Hayden et al, 2014;Iwajomo et al, 2018;Mauritzen et al, 2002).…”

“…Telemetry and capture‐mark‐recapture (CMR) methods are commonly used ecological monitoring tools to identify dispersing individuals. Telemetry methods may provide accurate information on movement, dispersal distance and direction (Cagua et al, 2015; Hayden et al, 2014; Iwajomo et al, 2018; Mauritzen et al, 2002). However, high cost of electronic telemetry devices and the need for extensive field efforts often result in data with relatively small sample sizes that cover a restricted geographic area and span short time periods, relative to dispersal distances and the length of dispersal and establishment processes (Cayuela et al, 2018).…”

Global positioning system (GPS) and platform transmitter terminal (PTT) tags reveal fine-scale migratory movements of small birds: A review highlights further opportunities for hypothesis-driven research

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When perfection isn't enough: host egg signatures are an effective defence against high-fidelity African cuckoo mimicry

“…The low reproductive success in African cuckoos may contribute to a ‘slow’ life-history strategy. The lifespan of African cuckoos is unknown, but common cuckoos (which are similar in size, but have a potentially more costly trans-Saharan rather than intra-African migration [ 71 ]) have a lifespan of up to seven years [ 72 ]. Tropical species tend to live longer than their temperate relatives [ 73 ]; if we therefore conservatively estimate that an African cuckoo typically lives eight to nine years, a female could expect to fledge only two offspring during her lifetime.…”