Satellite Telemetry of the Annual Migration of Baikal TealAnas formosaWintering at Katano-Kamoike, Ishikawa, Japan

Abstract

Baikal Teal were tracked, by satellite telemetry, in order to identify their migration route between their wintering grounds at Katano-kamoike, Ishikawa, Japan and their breeding range in Russia, and to identify the staging sites they use during migration. In the winter of 2012, four Baikal Teal were captured and satellite transmitters were attached to each individual. From 2012 to 2013, we tracked two of the four teal throughout their annual migration. In the spring, they crossed the Sea of Japan in late March and used stopovers in the Khanka Plain and the Three Rivers Plain for about one month. In early June, they reached their Arctic summer sites in the estuaries of the Indigirka and Khroma rivers of the Sakha Republic, Russia. They remained there for about three months and commenced their autumn migration in early September. The autumn migration route as far as the Three Rivers Plain was similar to that in spring, but after leaving the Three Rivers Plain, they moved to the western part of South Korea and stayed at Seomjin River and other rivers for several weeks. Finally, one of them returned to Katano-kamoike in January and spent more than two months of the winter there. In this study, we identified a total of 19 wetlands as important sites for Baikal Teal; three wintering sites, 13 stopover sites, one stopover/wintering site and two summer sites.