Speed of autumn migration of the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) along the eastern and southern Baltic coast

Abstract

Speed of autumn migration of the Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) along the eastern and southern Baltic coast An analysis of the speed of autumn migration was based on 315 ringing recoveries of Blue Tits caught between 1963-1999 at 6 ringing stations along the south-eastern and southern Baltic coast. It was found that among passerines the Blue Tit is the slowest European migrant (median value - 25.8 km/day, average - 28.4 km/day), with a very low (intra- and interpopulation) variation of migration speed. No differences in migration speed were found between individuals of different age and sex and among years of different intensities of movements. The migration speeds of the Blue Tit and the Great Tit (Parus major) in different years correlated.

Synchronisation of the Autumn Mass Migration of Passerines: a Case of RobinsErithacus rubecula

“…The mass-scale migration of birds (including Robins) over an area of several hundred square kilometres has been well documented (Žalakevičius 1990(Žalakevičius , 1994(Žalakevičius , Žalakevičius & Petraitis 1992(Žalakevičius , Švažas 1993. Also Nowakowski (2001) showed that Great Tits Parus major do indeed seem to synchronise the speed of migration on the large scale if passage is intensive.…”

Catch numbers at ringing stations is a reflection of bird migration intensity, as exemplified by autumn movements of the Great Tit (Parus major)

“…1; for description of stations and field methods see Busse 2000 andNowakowski 2001). I also referred to 218 recoveries of birds ringed at the Ventes Ragas and Neringa stations (published in Patapavièius 1982, 1983, 1986a, 1986b, 1986c, 1987, 1988, 1989, Skuodis and Kurpyté 1989 and in Rybachy (in Bolshakov et al 1999Bolshakov et al , 2001).…”

“…The speed of movement of Great Tits in the described region is relatively stable, at 33.2 km/day on average (Nowakowski 2001). It is thus possible to standardise seasonal migration dynamics at different stations (by presenting them in standardised days of passage).…”

“…On the other hand, the fact that the same groups of Great Tits migrate through Mierzeja Wilana as through the remaining part of the region is suggested by the general migration angle for the Great Tit in Europe, and demonstrated by the great similarity to seasonal migration dynamics and numerous (more than 1500!) ringing recoveries (see Nowakowski 2001, Bolshakov et al 2001.…”

“…To analyse this problem, I have chosen a species with a simple migration system the Great Tit, which moves at a relatively low but stable speed (Nowakowski 2001), along a broad front and with a similar migration angle of ca 235°being maintained over the whole of Central and Eastern Europe , Payevsky 1971, Hudec 1983, Alerstam 1993, Hudde 1993, Rezvyi et al 1995. As the migration routes of different populations basically do not cross, the interpretation of results obtained is facilitated.…”