Seasonal migrations and morphometry of the European Nightjar according to long-term (1957–2016) trapping and ringing in the Eastern Baltic

Abstract

The results of trapping, measuring the size and weight of the body of the European Nightjar, as well as migration routes according to the data of the ringing in the Kaliningrad region during 1957–2016 are discussed. The annual number of migrating birds has fluctuated significantly for 60 years, and the number of those caught and ringed varied from one to 44 individuals in different years. They were most numerous in May, in the period 1969–1981. Four ring recoveries of Nightjars ringed by us were obtained, which gives the effectiveness of ringing of this species with nocturnal activity of only 0.92%. However, these ringing results indicate that in autumn the migration routes of Nightjar population from the western parts of Scandinavia and from southern Finland run through the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, and later, on the way to Africa, their azimuth of flight varies from 178° to 203°. The longevity record according to the data from one male of the subspecies Caprimulgus europaeus zarudny E. Hartert, 1912 was 15 years. The migration routes of this species are discussed according to the latest literature data.