Moult Strategies Affect Age Differences in Autumn Migration Timing in East Mediterranean Migratory Passerines

PloS One
Yosef Kiat, Ido Izhaki

Abstract

Adult passerines renew their flight feathers at least once every year. This complete moult occurs either in the breeding areas, just after breeding (summer moult), or, in some long-distance migratory species, at the non-breeding areas, after arrival to the southern wintering area at the end of autumn migration (winter moult). The aim of this study was to relate moult strategies with the DMD, the difference in median migration date, through Israel, between juveniles and adults. Our data on autumn migration timing in juveniles and adults was based on ringing data of 49,125 individuals belonging to 23 passerine species that breed in Europe and Western Asia and migrate through Israel. We found that DMD was associated with moult timing. In all species that perform a winter moult, adults preceded juveniles during autumn. Among migrants who perform a summer moult, we found evidence of both migration timing patterns: juveniles preceding adults or adults preceding juveniles. In addition, in summer moulters, we found a significant, positive correlation between mean breeding latitude and DMD. Although previous studies described that moult duration and extent can be affected by migration, we suggest that moult strategies affect both migrat...Continue Reading

References

Aug 8, 2007·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Zoltán BartaOrsolya Feró
Aug 19, 2008·The American Naturalist·R P FreckletonM Pagel
Oct 19, 2010·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Georgia J Mason

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Citations

Oct 20, 2018·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Yosef KiatNir Sapir

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Software Mentioned

R package ' Caper '

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