Seasonal and diurnal increases in energy stores in migratory warblers at an autumn stopover site along the Asian–Australasian flyway

Abstract

In contrast to the rapidly growing body of knowledge on migratory routes, wintering grounds and timing of annual life cycle events of migratory birds, knowledge on how migratory songbirds refuel at stopover sites along the Asian–Australasian flyway has increased only slowly, despite the fact that migrant birds show declining trends along it. We analysed the amount and variation of energy stores between species, variation of energy stores within the day and within the season, and estimated flight ranges of ten closely related warbler species (genera Acrocephalus, Arundinax, Locustella and Phylloscopus), captured at a stopover site in the Russian Far East during the autumn migration. We found significant differences in the species’ energy stores, with Pallas’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus proregulus having by far the highest. All species increased their energy stores within the day, and eight species increased their energy stores within the season. Individuals with the highest estimated flight ranges were able to cover a distance of 470 km during one nocturnal flight bout, which would have resulted in a minimum of nine stopovers before the birds reached their wintering grounds. We assume that a combination of factors determines the variation in energy stores between these species. We discuss the potential for these birds to exploit different habitats and refuelling strategies according to the distribution of species-specific refuelling habitats, and a variety of food resources, along the migratory route. This study is the first to provide information on energy stores, refuelling strategies and flight ranges for a set of closely related songbird species migrating along the Asian–Australasian flyway.