Seasonal variation in mortality rates for Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) using the Western Atlantic Flyway

Watts, Bryan D.; Smith, Fletcher M.; Hamilton, Diana J.; Keyes, Timothy; Paquet, Julie; Pirie‐Dominix, Lisa; Rausch, Jennie; Truitt, Barry R.; Winn, Brad; Woodard, Paul

doi:10.1093/condor/duy001

Cited by 18 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Given the difficulty of tracking migrants throughout their annual cycles, few studies have explored their seasonal survival. The majority of studies that have succeeded in developing such estimates have identified migration as the period with the lowest daily (and seasonal) survival rates of the annual cycle (Sillett and Holmes, 2002;Hebblewhite and Merrill, 2011;Klaassen et al, 2014;Romer et al, 2015;Watts et al, 2019). Our results are not entirely consistent with these findings: migratory flights over Europe during both north-and southward migration were consistently characterized by hazard rates that were equivalent to those exhibited during other, stationary, portions of the godwit annual cycle.…”

Section: Seasonal Survival In Migratory Speciescontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…Similarly, our understanding of the location and timing of mortality events during the annual cycles of migratory species has developed rapidly over the past two decades. While most efforts to determine the seasonal survival rates of migratory species have relied on color-marking schemes and mark-recapture analyses to infer when and where individuals die (Sillett and Holmes, 2002;Lok et al, 2015), some recent studies have used satellite tracking devices to monitor the survival of individuals continuously throughout their annual cycles (Hebblewhite and Merrill, 2011;Klaassen et al, 2014;Hewson et al, 2016;Watts et al, 2019). In general, these studies have identified migration as the period during the annual cycle with the highest mortality rates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High Migratory Survival and Highly Variable Migratory Behavior in Black-Tailed Godwits

et al. 2019

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Few studies have been able to directly measure the seasonal survival rates of migratory species or determine how variable the timing of migration is within individuals and across populations over multiple years. As such, it remains unclear how likely migration is to affect the population dynamics of migratory species and how capable migrants may be of responding to changing environmental conditions within their lifetimes. To address these questions, we used three types of tracking devices to track individual black-tailed godwits from the nominate subspecies (Limosa limosa limosa) throughout their annual cycles for up to 5 consecutive years. We found that godwits exhibit considerable inter-and intra-individual variation in their migratory behavior across years. We also found that godwits had generally high survival rates during migration, although survival was reduced during northward flights across the Sahara Desert. These patterns differ from those observed in most other migratory species, suggesting that migration may only be truly dangerous when crossing geographic barriers that lack emergency stopover sites and that the levels of phenotypic flexibility exhibited by some populations may enable them to rapidly respond to changing environmental conditions.

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Section: Seasonal Survival In Migratory Speciescontrasting

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Migratory Survival and Highly Variable Migratory Behavior in Black-Tailed Godwits

et al. 2019

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“…All Whimbrels in our study moved exclusively within the Pacific Americas Flyway. In contrast, Whimbrels breeding on the Mackenzie River Delta in Canada, ~ 600 km east of the Colville River, migrate within the Atlantic Americas Flyway (Watts et al 2019), indicating a possible migratory divide between these breeding populations. The nonstop migratory flights of Whimbrels in our study (e.g., ~ 8700 km between Santo Domingo, Chile, and agricultural lands near Calipatria, California) are among the longest recorded for landbirds (Conklin et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In North America, efforts to describe the movements of Whimbrels have focused on those using the Atlantic Americas Flyway. Watts et al (2019) found that birds breeding as far west as the Mackenzie River Delta, Canada (i.e., eastern part of western population), migrated to non‐breeding sites located primarily along the northeast coast of South America. Johnson et al (2016) found that individuals breeding near Churchill, Manitoba, either made nonstop flights between breeding and non‐breeding sites along the northeast coast of South America or stopped en route at one of two sites (Chesapeake Bay/Delmarva Peninsula, USA, and coasts of Georgia/South Carolina, USA) on the mid‐Atlantic coast of North America (Johnson et al 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska‐breeding Whimbrels

et al. 2021

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Birds that conduct long‐distance migrations exhibit varied patterns of consistency in migratory timing and site use. Understanding variation in these traits among populations can help uncover mechanisms driving migratory behaviors and identify potential population threats. Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) are long‐distance migratory shorebirds with a Holarctic breeding distribution, and recent studies have documented population‐specific migrations that vary in duration (short to long) and frequency of stops (none/few to multiple). Factors driving these population‐specific differences are unclear. We studied the migration ecology of Whimbrels breeding in Alaska, USA, using satellite transmitters deployed from 2006 to 2010 and tracked through 2015. Whimbrels moved entirely within the Pacific Americas Flyway, and some conducted nonstop flights that exceeded seven days across ~ 8700 km. Birds dispersed across numerous sites throughout the flyway, often using agriculture or aquaculture habitats. Whimbrels generally exhibited fidelity to breeding and non‐breeding sites, but typically only exhibited fidelity to staging sites used prior to long, nonstop migratory flights. The duration of migration for Whimbrels at more southern non‐breeding locations was longer than for those at more northern non‐breeding sites, and birds at more southern sites also terminated southbound migration later and initiated northbound migration earlier than birds at more northern sites. Alaska‐breeding Whimbrels exhibited greater variation in migratory behaviors than those in other populations in the species’ range. We attribute this within‐population diversity to the extensive breadth of non‐breeding distributions (~ 70° latitude across ~ 8600 km), a range that naturally shaped individual responses to unequal migratory demands.

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“…The Alaskan population migrates south along the Pacific Flyway to winter areas from Panama through Chile 6 – 8 . Both the Hudson Bay and Mackenzie Delta populations migrate south along the Western Atlantic Flyway to a common winter ground along the northern coast of South America 6 , 9 , 10 . Both of these populations make trans-Atlantic flights to reach winter grounds.…”

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confidence: 99%

Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters

Watts

Smith

Hines

et al. 2021

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Each year hundreds of millions of birds cross the Atlantic Ocean during the peak of tropical cyclone activity. The extent and consequences of migrant-storm interactions remain unknown. We tracked whimbrels from two populations (Mackenzie Delta; Hudson Bay) to examine overlap between migration routes and storm activity and both the frequency and consequence of storm encounters. Here we show that Mackenzie Delta and Hudson Bay whimbrels follow different routes across the ocean and experience dramatically different rates of storm encounters. Mackenzie Delta whimbrels departed North America from Atlantic Canada, made long ($$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 5440 ± 120.3 km) nonstop flights far out to sea that took several days ($$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 6.1 ± 0.18) to complete and encountered storms during 3 of 22 crossings. Hudson Bay whimbrels departed North America from the south Atlantic Coast, made shorter ($$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 3643 ± 196.2 km) nonstop flights across the Caribbean Basin that took less time ($$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 4.5 ± 0.29) to complete and encountered storms during 13 of 18 crossings. More than half of Hudson Bay storm encounters resulted in groundings on Caribbean islands. Grounded birds required longer ($$\bar{x}$$ x ¯ = 30.4 ± 5.32 days) to complete trans-Atlantic crossings and three were lost including 2 to hunters and 1 to a predator. One of the Mackenzie Delta whimbrels was lost at sea while crossing the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Whimbrels use two contrasting strategies to cross the Atlantic including (1) a long nonstop flight around the core of storm activity with a low likelihood of encountering storms but no safety net and (2) a shorter flight through the heart of Hurricane Alley with a high likelihood of encountering storms and a safety network of islands to use in the event of an encounter. Demographic consequences of storm encounters will likely play a role in the ongoing evolution of trans-Atlantic migration pathways as global temperatures continue to rise.

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Seasonal variation in mortality rates for Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) using the Western Atlantic Flyway

Cited by 18 publications

References 57 publications

High Migratory Survival and Highly Variable Migratory Behavior in Black-Tailed Godwits

High Migratory Survival and Highly Variable Migratory Behavior in Black-Tailed Godwits

Diverse patterns of migratory timing, site use, and site fidelity by Alaska‐breeding Whimbrels

Whimbrel populations differ in trans-atlantic pathways and cyclone encounters

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