NOTES ON YELLOW WAGTAILS <i>MOTACILLA FLAVA</i> WINTERING IN CENTRAL NIGERIA

Smith, V. W.; Ebbutt, David

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1965.tb07318.x

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…It is apparent in Fig. 1 that the rate of increase was about 7 g in eight days or 0.9 g/day, although in central Nigeria Smith & Ebbutt (1965) found that in early April the species increased at only 0.6 g/day. We netted females of 25 g and males of nearly 27 g, and it is possible that a considerable proportion of individuals attain these maxima.…”

Section: Pectoral Muscle Hypertrophymentioning

confidence: 84%

Flight muscle hypertrophy and ecophysiological variation of Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava races at Lake Chad

Fry

Ferguson‐Lees²,

Dowsett³

1972

Journal of Zoology

104

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During the few days before emigration to the Palaearctic, the weight of Yellow wagtails wintering in Africa doubles. Most of the increase is due to the deposition of fat, as is well known, but a part of it is shown to result from hypertrophy of the pectoral muscles. The same applies to other Palaearctic birds, four warblers and a hirundine, that winter in Africa. Eleven subspecies of M. flava occur at Lake Chad in spring. The four black‐headed ones have more restricted habitat requirements than some of the others; however, no differences in diet have been found. There is no evidence of hyperphagia and little of diet change when fattening. Broadly, the races that have farthest to migrate leave earliest, and their sexual recrudescence and fattening are early. Yellow wagtails wintering at or passing through Lake Chad breed mainly in eastern Europe (from the Adriatic to the Gulf of Finland, between about 12° and 30°E). They probably migrate on a great circle route, and during the flight lose one gram of weight, mainly fat, per 200 km.

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Section: Pectoral Muscle Hypertrophymentioning

confidence: 84%

Flight muscle hypertrophy and ecophysiological variation of Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava races at Lake Chad

Fry

Ferguson‐Lees²,

Dowsett³

1972

Journal of Zoology

104

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“…Weights recorded previously in Nigeria for Yellow Wagtails prior to spring migration range up to 27.0g for males (Wood 1976) and 25.0g for females (Smith andEbbutt 1965, Fry et al 1972). These figures are exceeded by two males and three females among the sample trapped for this study, increasing the upper limit to 27.9g for males and 27.1g for females (Figure 1).…”

Section: Comparison With Results Of Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Despite these high weights no bird examined exceeded a fat score of 5 on a standard 8-point scale (Bairlein 1995). Smith and Ebbutt (1965) report a fattening rate of 0.56g d -1 among Yellow Wagtails in early April 1964, at a site less than 20km from Rockwater Fish Farm. However, this is an overall estimate of a combined sample of males and females.…”

Section: Comparison With Results Of Previous Studiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Timing of pre-nuptial migration and leap-frog patterns in Yellow Wagtails (Motacilla flava)

Bell¹

2007

Ostrich

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“…The 173 weighed from 3 April onwards were significantly heavier by a mean 1.3 g than the 67 weighed before that date (P=0.02). The extremely rapid weight increase of Yellow Wagtails in the first half of April recorded by Ward (1964) at Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, and by Smith & Ebbutt (1965) at Vom, central Nigeria, had apparently not yet begun in the populations of Lake Chad at that time (though this conclusion was probably affected by the comparatively small number of M. f . feldegg trapped in 1967).…”

Section: Yellow Wagtailsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…That rates of lipid deposition as high as 0.6 g/day can, however, be achieved by strictly insectivorous birds has been shown for the Yellow Wagtail by Smith & Ebbutt (1965) and for several species by Smith (1966). Feeding conditions in the cultivated uplands and gardens near Vom in central Nigeria, where both of these studies were carried out, may be quite unlike those at Malamfatori, either more or less favourable, but Yellow Wagtails at Vom in late April increased in weight at 0+6gjday, Tree Pipits Anthus trivialis at 0-3 g/day, and Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca at 0.6 glday.…”

Section: Ibis 112mentioning

confidence: 97%

Spring Weights of Some Palaearctic Migrants at Lake Chad

Fry

Ash²,

Ferguson‐Lees³

1970

Ibis

127

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Summary A visit was made to Malamfatori, on the western shore of Lake Chad, Nigeria, from 22 March to 13 April 1967, with the principal aim of studying Palaearctic migrants in relation to the environment. About 2,400 Palaearctic migrants of 29 species were mist‐netted in beds of bulrush Typha australis and thickets of saltbush Salvadora persica. Some 300 of these were collected for fat analysis; the remainder were released after measurement and ringing, and provided 275 retraps during the course of the study. Data were supplemented by further netting by A. J. Hopson in late April and May. Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava, Sedge Warblers Acrocephalus schoenobaenus and Whitethroats Sylvia communis were abundant and were studied in greater detail than other species. Yellow Wagtails fed almost exclusively on midges, particularly the abundant Tanytarsus spadiceonotatus. Sedge Warblers fed on small insects and spiders, and Whitethroats on Salvadora fruits. Sedge Warblers and some other chiefly insectivorous species turned to a diet including berries shortly before emigrating. Changes in weight during the course of the day were difficult to investigate, but were probably bimodal. Good correlations of weights with wing‐lengths were obtained for species for which many data were available. Pre‐migratory fattening did not occur synchronously in all populations of a species, but once it started in an individual it proceeded at a constant rate of 0.2 g/day in Sedge Warblers and 0.6 g/day in Whitethroats. Predation pressure probably ensured that individuals emigrated immediately they attained their maximum pre‐migratory weight, although some Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats left the area before attaining maximum weight. Differences between the mean weight curves of first‐caught and retrapped birds are discussed, and it is concluded that in some species there were both through‐migrant and temporarily‐resident populations at Malamfatori. The mean weights per day of Whitethroats, Sedge Warblers and also Reed Warblers A. scirpaceus were falling in late March, and slight changes in the weather, particularly temperature, may have been responsible. In mid‐April there was a “rush” of lean Whitethroats, which are thought to have originated to the SW in Nigeria. Yellow Wagtails, Sedge Warblers and Whitethroats deposited up to 40% fat/live weight; Sand Martins Riparia riparia had up to 28%, and a small sample of Ruffs Philomachus pugnax up to 17%. In the case of Sedge Warblers, fat reserves were sufficient for crossing the Sahara both to the north and to the northeast. Contrary to the findings in some previous lipid studies, the fat‐free dry weight and water content increased during fattening. The fat‐free dry weight increase was about 34% in Yellow Wagtails, 18% in Sedge Warblers, and 35% in Whitethroats. The tissues involved in this increase were not investigated, but a study of Yellow Wagtails at Malamfatori in 1968 (in prep.) suggests that the pectoral muscles hypertrophy during fat deposition sufficiently to account for nearly all of ...

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NOTES ON YELLOW WAGTAILS MOTACILLA FLAVA WINTERING IN CENTRAL NIGERIA

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Flight muscle hypertrophy and ecophysiological variation of Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava races at Lake Chad

Flight muscle hypertrophy and ecophysiological variation of Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava races at Lake Chad

Timing of pre-nuptial migration and leap-frog patterns in Yellow Wagtails (Motacilla flava)

Spring Weights of Some Palaearctic Migrants at Lake Chad

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