Wind conditions on migration influence the annual survival of a neotropical migrant, the western yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens auricollis)

Abstract

BackgroundLong-distance migratory birds in North America have undergone precipitous declines over the past half-century. Although the trend is clear, for many migrating species underpinning the exact causes poses a challenge to conservation due to the numerous stressors that they encounter. Climate conditions during all phases of their annual cycle can have important consequences for their survival. Here, using 15 years of capture-recapture dataset, we determined the effects of various climate factors during the breeding, wintering, and migrating stages on the annual survival of a western yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens auricollis) population breeding in southwestern Canada.ResultsEl Niño effects over the entire annual cycle had little influence on the annual apparent survival of yellow-breasted chats. However, we found evidence that wind conditions during migration, specifically average westerly wind speed or the frequency of storm events, had significant adverse effects on adult annual apparent survival. In comparison, precipitation levels on wintering ground had little to no influence on adult annual apparent survival, whereas growing degree days on the breeding ground had moderate but positive effects.ConclusionsIn the face of climate change and its predicted impacts on climate processes, understanding the influence of weather conditions on the survival of migrating birds can allow appropriate conservation strategies to be adopted for chats and other declining neotropical migrants.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12898-017-0139-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Integrating broad‐scale data to assess demographic and climatic contributions to population change in a declining songbird

“…Reverse-symmetry models based on site-level data summaries could also be used (Pradel, 1996;Tenan et al, 2014); however, we have encountered long implementation times with these models and difficulty achieving convergence We linked demographic parameters to climate covariates that will be impacted by climate change. Spring winds have been shown to affect survival in other passerine birds (Drake et al, 2014;Huang et al, 2017); however, we found no evidence of spring wind effects on these three Wilson's warbler groups. It is possible that our wind covariate did not properly capture migration conditions due to how migration regions were delineated or that mean tailwind conditions across the entire migration period was not an appropriate metric.…”

“…Spring wind conditions may be an important factor affecting survival rates of western Neotropical migrant songbirds (Drake et al, ; Huang et al, ). We calculated a covariate representing average tailwind conditions experienced during spring migration for each overwintering‐breeding region connection.…”

“…We hypothesized that F I G U R E 1 Adult male Wilson's warbler in California's Sierra Nevada. Photography credit: Gabriel Gonzalez breeding productivity would depend on drought conditions on the wintering grounds (a carry-over effect) and on spring temperature (Saracco, Siegel, Helton, Stock, & DeSante, 2019;Socolar, Epanchin, Beissinger, & Tingley, 2017) and that adult survival would depend on winter drought and wind conditions during spring migration (Drake, Rock, Quinlan, Martin, & Green, 2014;Huang, Bishop, McKibbin, Drake, & Green, 2017;LaManna, George, Saracco, Nott, & DeSante, 2012). We used transient life table response experiments (LTREs) to decompose variation in population growth rates among vital rate and demographic structure components and to examine how these demographic contributions depended on climate covariates (Koons, Arnold, & Schaub, 2017;Koons, Iles, Schaub, & Caswell, 2016).…”

“…Summary of the BBS and MAPS data sets used in the integrated population model The MAPS adult CMR data set was restricted to stations operated ≥4 years Huang et al, 2017)…”

Rapid advancement of spring migration and en route adjustment of migration timing in response to weather during fall migration in Vaux’s Swifts (Chaetura vauxi)

“…For example, warmer temperatures are associated with earlier arrival on the breeding grounds in Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris Linnaeus 1758, Courter et al 2013). In Yellow Warblers (Setophaga petechial Linnaeus 1766, Drake et al 2014), strong westerly winds appear to slow migration and result in a later clutch initiation date, while in the Yellow-Breasted Chat (Icteria virens auricollis Linnaeus 1758, Huang et al 2017), westerly winds are linked to a decline in survival during migration, and a later arrival date at the breeding grounds.…”