Migration Across the Sea

Lack, David

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1959.tb02395.x

Cited by 99 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The migrations of Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish thrushes have been described by Rendahl (1960, 1961), Kruger (1940), Holgersen (1953) and Ashmole (1962). Lack (1959). He concluded that Redwings, Blackbirds and Fieldfares almost certainly make a direct passage over the North Sea quite regularly, and analysis of ringing recoveries has supported this view (Goodacre 1959, Ashmole 1962).…”

Section: The Migration Of Thrushes From Scandinaviamentioning

confidence: 99%

DAWN ASCENT AND RE‐ORIENTATION OF SCANDINAVIAN THRUSHES (TURDUS spp.) MIGRATING AT NIGHT OVER THE NORTHEASTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN IN AUTUMN

Myres

1964

Ibis

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Summary Observations were made with radar from the Shetland Isles in 1960. During the late autumn a regular broad‐front movement passed westwards over Shetland from Scandinavia about midnight. Its front evidently extended by dawn from the Outer Hebrides towards the Faeroe Islands. The movement consisted of fast‐moving bright radar responses. During the later hours of the night the responses from the overnight passage movement generally, though not invariably, almost totally disappeared. Their disappearance seems to have been due to the birds having descended below the radar beam. The radar display always filled up again with rather faint, evenly distributed, responses in a short period around dawn, over a wide area of the south Norwegian Sea. The evidence indicates that these responses were from the same species as those observed on overnight passage, and that the sudden reappearance of responses around dawn was due to a sudden gain of altitude by these birds. The responses then assumed directions of movement which were not randomly distributed around the compass. Continuation of flight southwestwards or westwards on the overnight heading was infrequent, even in southeasterly winds. Movement in directions between W. and N.N.W. was very rare after dawn. Off Shetland three main directions of movement were recorded, E.S.E.–S.E., N.–N.N.E. and S.–S.S.W. Ascents at dawn and re‐orientation behaviour have been established as taking place over both the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Ascents with at least one direction of reorientation have been observed also off the Outer Hebrides, off eastern Scotland and north of East Anglia. Overnight passage was recorded from Shetland on 22 out of 48 nights and the dawn ascent was recorded on 33 mornings. Directions of movement after dawn were determined on 26 mornings, on only two of which were the directions random. On 15 of the 24 mornings when re‐orientation occurred the wind at 900 m. above Lerwick was not greater than 15 knots. In 1961 ascent, without re‐orientation, was recorded from Iceland Redwings and Wheatears off the Outer Hebrides by Lee (1963). The possibility that birds of Icelandic origin were responsible for any of the southeastward directions of movement observed around Shetland in 1960 could be excluded for a combination of reasons. The possibility that warblers, flycatchers, chats, or finches drifted to Fair Isle and Shetland could have been responsible for the dawn ascents and re‐orientation off Shetland was also excluded. The radar responses, the detailed analysis of the radar data, the correlation of radar observations with field observations on Fair Isle and North Rona and other circumstantial evidence have strongly suggested that thrushes of the genus Turdus (especially Turdus musicus and probably T. merula and T. pilaris) were responsible for the overnight passage movements, dawn ascents and re‐orientation behaviour after dawn. It is shown that Shetland falls within the regular migratory path of Scandinavian thrushes in the autumn. Neither da...

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Section: The Migration Of Thrushes From Scandinaviamentioning

confidence: 99%

DAWN ASCENT AND RE‐ORIENTATION OF SCANDINAVIAN THRUSHES (TURDUS spp.) MIGRATING AT NIGHT OVER THE NORTHEASTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN IN AUTUMN

Myres

1964

Ibis

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“…The first attempts to quantify nocturnal bird migration were made with short‐range X‐band scanning radar (Eastwood , Drake and Bruderer ). In many countries, military and civil air traffic radar is used to study the spatial and temporal distribution of bird migration on a larger, often national scale (Sutter , Lack , Alerstam , Buurma , Ruhe 2000). However, continent‐wide studies have only become possible via the use of data from WSRs.…”

Section: Animal Distribution Numbers and Biomass In Time And Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the introduction of radar by the military during the Second World War it soon became obvious that radar could help fill gaps in our understanding of how flying animals use the airspace (Brooks 1945, Lack and Varley 1945, Buss 1946, Sutter 1957, Eastwood 1967. Since that time, many different types of radar (Table 1) have been broadly applied to study the 'invisible parts' of the movements of both birds and insects on a broader scale, primarily in Europe, North America, east Asia and Australia (Lack 1959, Drury and Keith 1962, Alerstam 1972, Myres and Apps 1973, Williams and Ying 1990, Bruderer 1997a, b, 2003, Drake and Reynolds 2012, Beason et al 2013, Drake and Bruderer 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives and challenges for the use of radar in biological conservation

et al. 2019

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Radar is at the forefront for the study of broad‐scale aerial movements of birds, bats and insects and related issues in biological conservation. Radar techniques are especially useful for investigating species which fly at high altitudes, in darkness, or which are too small for applying electronic tags. Here, we present an overview of radar applications in biological conservation and highlight its future possibilities. Depending on the type of radar, information can be gathered on local‐ to continental‐scale movements of airborne organisms and their behaviour. Such data can quantify flyway usage, biomass and nutrient transport (bioflow), population sizes, dynamics and distributions, times and dimensions of movements, areas and times of mass emergence and swarming, habitat use and activity ranges. Radar also captures behavioural responses to anthropogenic disturbances, artificial light and man‐made structures. Weather surveillance and other long‐range radar networks allow spatially broad overviews of important stopover areas, songbird mass roosts and emergences from bat caves. Mobile radars, including repurposed marine radars and commercially dedicated ‘bird radars’, offer the ability to track and monitor the local movements of individuals or groups of flying animals. Harmonic radar techniques have been used for tracking short‐range movements of insects and other small animals of conservation interest. However, a major challenge in aeroecology is determining the taxonomic identity of the targets, which often requires ancillary data obtained from other methods. Radar data have become a global source of information on ecosystem structure, composition, services and function and will play an increasing role in the monitoring and conservation of flying animals and threatened habitats worldwide.

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“…The bulk of the above winter visitors arrive on the east coast of England (East Anglia to Kent) on a broad front direct from Germany or the Low Countries, while others arrive direct from Scandinavia in smaller numbers sometimes as a result of westward drift during movements not normally touching the British Isles. Lack (1959Lack ( b, 1963 considers that some Norwegian Starlings may coast round the eastern side of the Xorth Sea and make the shorter crossings from Holland or Cap Gris Sez, and this appears to be usual for Chaffinches Fringilla coelebs. There is also evidence that some Starlings move as far as the Cherbourg peninsula before turning north to arrive in southern and southwestern Britain.…”

Section: Origiks Of Outbreakbmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even so, visual observations in East Anglia and Kent show that most Starlings arriving from the sea do not alight in the immediate coastal belt. Lack (1960) was able to measure the speed of migrating Starling flocks and obtained a mean air-speed over several mornings of 37 knots. This figure agrees with the speed of Starling flocks timed over the three miles between the South Goodwin lightship and the cliffs at St. Margaret's Bay (Min.…”

Section: Origiks Of Outbreakbmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Birds Transmit Foot and Mouth Disease?

Murton

1964

Ibis

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Summary Evidence regarding the role of birds in the transmission of foot and mouth disease is briefly reviewed. Bird movements in Europe are briefly considered and while some autumn migrants and winter visitors to Britain could transmit disease to livestock on the east coast, it seems unlikely that summer migrants could be involved as vectors between France and the south coast. Outbreaks of “obscure” origin tend to be concentrated in the eight coastal counties, Lincolnshire to Dorset. There is a correlation between the autumn outbreaks on the east coast (Lincolnshire‐Essex) and a high incidence of disease in the Low Countries and Denmark; and a correlation between a high level of infection in summer in France and outbreaks on the south coast (Kent‐Dorset). Very few coastal outbreaks occurred in Britain at migration times during the war years of 1940–44 at a time when the level of Continental infection was apparently high. Outbreaks in Britain in 1951–52 showed a clockwise movement from the east to the south coast paralleling the swing in the peak of infection from the Low Countries to France. During this period British outbreaks showed a marked tendency to be clustered round various seaports. The relative importance and the volume of coastal infection has increased since the late 1930s and these facts cannot be reconciled with the bird transmission theory. The tendency for a later spread of the disease in Britain has lessened in recent years, presumably because control methods have improved. The pattern of spread of disease within the Continent is also shown to be inconsistent with a theory involving birds as vectors. In Sweden the disease pattern has changed since Bullough (1942) examined the problem and it is very unlikely that bird movements have altered to account for this. It is concluded on the evidence so far available that some explanation other than one incriminating birds is necessary to account for the incidence of foot and mouth outbreaks of “obscure” origin in the English coastal counties.

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Migration Across the Sea

Cited by 99 publications

References 45 publications

DAWN ASCENT AND RE‐ORIENTATION OF SCANDINAVIAN THRUSHES (TURDUS spp.) MIGRATING AT NIGHT OVER THE NORTHEASTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN IN AUTUMN

DAWN ASCENT AND RE‐ORIENTATION OF SCANDINAVIAN THRUSHES (TURDUS spp.) MIGRATING AT NIGHT OVER THE NORTHEASTERN ATLANTIC OCEAN IN AUTUMN

Perspectives and challenges for the use of radar in biological conservation

Do Birds Transmit Foot and Mouth Disease?

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