Phylogeny, Historical Biogeography and the Evolution of Migration in Accipitrid Birds of Prey (Aves: Accipitriformes)

Abstract

Migration plays a fundamental part in the life of most temperate bird species. The regular, large-scale seasonal movements that characterize temperate migration systems appear to have originated in parallel with the postglacial northern expansion of tropical species. Migratoriness is also influenced by a number of ecological factors, such as the ability to survive harsh winters. Hence, understanding the origins and evolution of migration requires integration of the biogeographic history and ecology of birds in a phylogenetic context. We used molecular dating and ancestral state reconstruction to infer the origins and evolutionary changes in migratory behavior and ancestral area reconstruction to investigate historical patterns of range evolution in accipitrid birds of prey (Accipitriformes). Migration evolved multiple times in birds of prey, the earliest of which occurred in true hawks (Accipitrinae), during the middle Miocene period, according to our analyses. In most cases, a tropical ancestral distribution was inferred for the non-migratory ancestors of migratory lineages. Results from directional evolutionary tests indicate that migration evolved in the tropics and then increased the rate of colonization of temperate habitats, suggesting that temperate species might be descendants of tropical ones that dispersed into these seasonal habitats. Finally, we found that diet generalization predicts migratoriness in this group.

Phylogeny and evolution of the European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) and its allies – a review of the “bird of the year”

“…Therefore, a well-designed biogeographic analysis is also badly needed (e.g. Nagy & Tökölyi 2014, Moyle et al 2016, Fuchs et al 2017, Kennedy et al 2017a, 2017b) that might be helpful in understanding the phylogenetic relationships within the group.…”

Broodmate aggression and life history variation in accipitrid birds of prey

“…(1) bird, (2) mammal, (3) reptile, (4) fish, (5) amphibian, (6) crustacean, (7) insect, (8) worm, and (9) carrion, and diet breadth and reliance on warm-blooded prey were calculated following Roulin and Wink (2004), Nagy and Tökölyi (2014), and Nagy et al (2017). For example, the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) feeds mostly on mammals and birds, commonly reptiles, occasionally amphibians and fish, even insects and carrion (Ferguson-Lees & Christie, 2001); thus, its dietary breadth counted as seven, calculated as the number of the listed categories.…”

“…It can vary from λ = 0 (no correlation exists among species with different level of phylogenetic relatedness) to λ = 1 (a Brownian motion model, indicating dependency in the evolution of the trait; Kamilar & Cooper, 2013). A molecular phylogenetic tree based on ten (nuclear and mitochondrial) genes was used (Nagy & Tökölyi, 2014). The λ value with the lowest log likelihood is reported for each model.…”

“…The λ value with the lowest log likelihood is reported for each model. A molecular phylogenetic tree based on ten (nuclear and mitochondrial) genes was used (Nagy & Tökölyi, 2014). This tree was modified by manually adding six taxa (namely: Circus approximans, Accipiter badius, Accipiter melanoleucus, Accipiter minullus, Elanus scriptus, and Elanus axillaris) based on a consensus tree of random phylogenies downloaded from Birdtree.org (Jetz, Thomas, Joy, Hartmann, & Mooers, 2012), after further verification of the phylogenetic position of the species in previously published studies (Oatley, Simmons, & Fuchs, 2015;Roulin & Wink, 2004;Wink & Sauer-Gürth, 2004; Figure 2).…”

First evidence for carrion–feeding of Eurasian Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) in Bulgaria

“…Carrion use is widespread among many omnivorous and animal eating birds and is a key factor in evolution of some groups as diurnal birds of prey (del Hoyo et al 1994, DeVault et al 2003, Selva et al 2005, Selva & Fortuna 2007, Moleón et al 2014, Nagy & Tökölyi 2014, Nagy et al 2017. Owls are predatory birds that have adapted for hunting in the limited light at night.…”