Abstract
Many migratory birds make large detours to avoid crossing so-called ‘ecological barriers’ (usually vast expanses of sea, sand or ice). They do this in spite of being capable of storing enough fat as fuel to cross such areas in a single nonstop flight. Previous explanations for the adoption of circuitous migration routes by so many species involved factors such as wind and weather conditions and the risks of starvation or predation. New, surprisingly simple models by Thomas Alerstam 1 Alerstam T. Detours in Bird Migration. J. Theor. Biol. 2001; 209: 319-331 Crossref PubMed Scopus (194) Google Scholar , based on the mass-dependent costs of flight derived from flight mechanical theory, now provide a general explanation for such detours and make quantitative predictions about their possible benefits.
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