Northern Migrants Research Articles

Pleistocene felidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the Kudaro Paleolithic sites in the Caucasus

The Kudaro Paleolithic site complex in Southern Ossetia includes five species of felids: Panthera onca gombaszoegensis, P. spelaea, P. pardus, Felis silvestris and possibly Lynx lynx. The fossil jaguar P. onca gombaszoegensis was identified from the lowest stratigraphic level of the Middle Pleistocene (Likhvian = Holsteinian Interglacial). Remains of P. pardus and Felis silvestris were recovered from all layers. Panthera spelaea and Lynx lynx represent northern migrants appeared there at the end of the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene respectively.

Risk Assessment of the Introduction of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza as a Tool to be Applied in Prevention Strategy Plan

Risks of the introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 through migratory birds to the main wintering site for wild birds in southern Brazil and its consequences were assessed. Likelihoods were estimated by a qualitative scale ranging from negligible to high. Northern migrants that breed in Alaska and regularly migrate to South America (primary Charadriiformes) can have contact with birds from affected areas in Asia. The likelihood of the introduction of HPAI H5N1 through migratory birds was found to be very low as it is a probability conditioned to successful transmission in breeding areas and the probabilities of an infected bird migrating and shedding the virus as far as southern Brazil. The probability of wild species becoming exposed to H5N1-infected birds is high as they nest with northern migrants from Alaska, whereas for backyard poultry it is moderate to high depending on proximity to wetlands and the presence of species that could increase the likelihood of contact with wild birds such as domestic duck. The magnitude of the biological and economic consequences of successful transmission to poultry or wild birds would be low to severe depending on the probability of the occurrence of outbreak scenarios described. As a result, the risk estimate is greater than negligible, and HPAI H5N1 prevention strategy in the region should always be carefully considered by the veterinary services in Brazil.

What Made Carolina Blue? In-Migration and the 2008 North Carolina Presidential Vote

In this article, we examine the role that in-migration played in contributing to the 2008 Democratic presidential victory in North Carolina. Prior to Barack Obama, the last time the Tar Heel State was carried by a Democrat was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Since the late 1980s, North Carolina has undergone tremendous demographic change. In addition to a growing Hispanic population that is primarily comprised of noncitizens, the state has witnessed a very large increase in the number of residents who were born and raised in Northern states such as New York. Historically, in much of the postwar South, Northern migrants helped grow the Republican Party. We find that in North Carolina this pattern no longer holds. In contemporary North Carolina, migrants born outside the South are more likely to identify and register as politically unaffiliated, and their growing share of the state’s electorate directly contributed to Obama’s narrow win.

Enregistering Modernity, Bluffing Criminality: How Nouchi Speech Reinvented (and Fractured) the Nation

This paper traces processes of the enregisterment of modernity in French and Nouchi (an urban patois) in Côte d’Ivoire, arguing that the struggles to define the indexical values of Nouchi and the performative bluff of urban street life associated with it have played a central role in the production of Ivoirian national identity. Speakers of Nouchi integrate references to American pop culture with local Ivoirian lexical content, which allows Nouchi use ambivalently to index both modernity and autochthony. In so doing they overturn the hierarchical schema of evaluation defined by proximity to the French standard. Nouchi indexes a new pan‐ethnic Ivoirian identity based on the alternative modernity of cosmopolitan urban youth. Urban youth reject the Francocentric elitism of the postcolonial state but themselves exclude Northern migrants, whom they qualify as less than modern, from Ivoirian citizenship. [modernity, enregisterment, French, Nouchi, indexicality, Côte d’Ivoire]

Distribution and Migration of Juvenile Chinook Salmon Derived from Coded Wire Tag Recoveries along the Continental Shelf of Western North America

AbstractThe effects of ocean conditions on highly migratory species such as salmon are difficult to assess owing to the diversity of environments they encounter during their marine life. In this study, we reconstructed the initial ocean migration routes of juvenile Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytschaoriginating from Oregon to Southeast Alaska using coded wire tag recovery data from Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans and National Marine Fisheries Service research surveys conducted between 1995 and 2006. Over this 12‐year period, 1,862 coded‐wire‐tagged juvenile Chinook salmon were recovered along the coasts of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska from March to November. Except for those from the Columbia River, most juvenile Chinook salmon remained within 100–200 km of their natal rivers until their second year at sea, irrespective of their freshwater history and adult run timing. Northward migration of most coastal stocks was initiated during their second or possibly third year at sea, whereas the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound stocks primarily migrated onto the continental shelf after their first year at sea. In contrast, Columbia River Chinook salmon generally undertook a rapid northward migration that varied among life histories and stocks. Columbia River spring Chinook salmon were recovered as far north as Prince William Sound, Alaska, during their first summer at sea, whereas very few Columbia River fall Chinook salmon were recovered north of Vancouver Island. In addition to northern migrants, a fraction of the Columbia River spring and fall Chinook salmon actively migrated south of the Columbia River. The stock‐specific initial ocean migration routes described in this study will aid in the identification of the appropriate spatial and temporal scales for assessing the processes regulating Chinook salmon recruitment in the marine environment.

Geographically distinct reproductive schedules in a changing world: Costly implications in captive Stonechats

With progressively faster global change, shifts in phenology, and distributional ranges are reported for an increasing number of species. The success of organisms at coping with novel seasonal conditions depends on the mechanisms that determine their schedules. Species that rely on fixed schedules and those that time their activities by predictive cues may be particularly constrained in their ability to accommodate changes. The present study examines rigid scheduling and its implications for breeding in captivity in an avian model taxon, the Stonechat (Saxicola torquata). Within their extensive breeding range, Stonechats differ geographically in migratory behavior and reproduce and molt under a wide range of daylengths (10-17 h). Stonechats time their activities by programs that involve circannual rhythms and photoperiodism. The study reports reproductive timing of four taxa (central European, Irish, Siberian, and Kenyan), relates it to laydates in the field, and investigates modifying influences of housing conditions and of social context. Reproductive consequences of timing programs were then tested by crossbreeding of taxa with different schedules. The study revealed persistent, population-specific breeding windows in captivity. Resident Stonechats from equatorial Kenya synchronized their reproductive cycles with the European summer, presumably in response to local photoperiod, and bred at similar times as northern migrants. In all other taxa schedules matched those in the field, but were timed slightly earlier in captivity and advanced by indoor keeping conditions. Influences of social context were negligible. In pairs with clutches, testes regressed slightly later than in pairs without clutches, but presence of a mate per se had no influence on breeding cycles. Accordingly, crossbreeding Stonechats were predicted to have limited capacity to adjust schedules to those of their mates. This prediction was tested by crossbreeding of single-clutched Siberian long-distance migrants with multiple-clutched European short-distance migrants. Males and females of both taxa retained their characteristic breeding schedules, regardless of their mate's activities. This led to dramatic loss of reproductive success in the population with the longer breeding season, European Stonechats. Siberian Stonechats were unable to profit from the presence of a sexually active mate, but they suffered no disadvantage from crossbreeding. In a changing world, inherited timing programs may severely constrain responses to novel conditions, impose schedule-dependent, asymmetric costs of hybridization, and contribute to directional gene flow or to reproductive isolation.

Stable isotopes (δD) delineate the origins and migratory connectivity of harvested animals: the case of European woodpigeons

Summary Quantifying connectivity between breeding, stopover, and wintering locations is critical to the management and conservation of migratory animals. Mark–recapture approaches to establishing connectivity are limited due to marking location bias and poor recovery. Alternatively, endogenous markers like stable isotopes can augment extrinsic markers and help to overcome their limitations. We used a stable hydrogen isotope (δD) isoscape for Europe and δD analysis of feathers from harvested woodpigeons Columba palumbus in France, the Iberian Peninsula, and Corsica to estimate their natal origins. We propagated error associated with the relationship between deuterium in feathers (δDf) and mean growing‐season precipitation (δDp) for woodpigeons in Europe. For every δDf value, we estimated a range of possible δDp values and used this to map the probability of origin. We estimated that ~50% of the woodpigeon harvest in France was comprised of residents or from nearby countries to the east. About 30% of the take were medium‐distance migrants, and about 10% were long‐distance migrants from Scandinavia, northwest Russia and the Baltic. A greater proportion of the long‐distance migrants were taken in Spain. In Corsica, birds primarily originated from northern Italy to the Ukraine. The proportion of northern migrants harvested decreased with latitude, suggesting a leapfrog migration pattern. Birds harvested at lower latitudes showed an inverse relationship between wing length and δDf, which suggested that longer‐distance migrants had longer wings. Synthesis and applications. This is the first application of stable isotope methodology to quantify population structure and migratory connectivity for a European game species. In addition, we used statistical approaches accounting for potential geospatial assignment errors. Most of the French woodpigeons harvested are resident birds, which suggests that local management of the hunt in France may be most effective. However, southwestern France appeared to take a somewhat greater proportion of migrant woodpigeons, and thus, conservation and management of woodpigeons in France should recognize regional differences. Our approach provided a methodological template that can be applied to questions of migratory connectivity for numerous species of game and non‐game migrant birds.

Orientation in captive migratory and sedentary Australian silvereyes Zosterops lateralis (Zosteropidae)

The orientation of two closely related subspecies of Australian silvereye Zosterops lateralis was studied in captivity over 14 months. Migratory silvereyes Z. lateralis lateralis showed significant directional preferences during the spring and autumn migration periods and also displayed orientated behaviour during the breeding period. In contrast, the non-migratory subspecies Z. lateralis familiaris did not display any significant directional preferences at any time. This is the first time that the orientation behaviour of a migratory and non-migratory subspecies has been compared over the duration of an annual cycle, both during and outside the migratory periods. The results suggest that migratory silvereyes possess an endogenous program determining the timing and direction of autumn and spring migration and that this program is unique to the migratory subspecies. This is also the first comparison of this nature on southern hemisphere birds and demonstrates that the migratory behaviour of southern hemisphere migrants may be more similar to that of northern hemisphere migrants than previously thought.

Migratory Restlessness in an Equatorial Nonmigratory Bird

The urge of captive birds to migrate manifests itself in seasonally occurring restlessness, termed “Zugunruhe.” Key insights into migration and an endogenous basis of behavior are based on Zugunruhe of migrants but have scarcely been tested in nonmigratory birds. We recorded Zugunruhe of African stonechats, small passerine birds that defend year-round territories and have diverged from northern migrants at least 1 million years ago. We demonstrate that Zugunruhe is a regular feature of their endogenous program, one that is precisely timed by photoperiod. These results extend ideas of programs for periodic movement to include nonmigratory birds. Such programs could be activated when movements become necessary, in line with observed fast changes and high flexibility of migration. Attention to Zugunruhe of resident birds promises new insights into diverse and dynamic migration systems and enhances predictions of avian responses to global change.

ISOTOPIC DELINEATION OF NORTH AMERICAN MIGRATORY WILDLIFE POPULATIONS: LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES

The ability to link breeding and wintering sites of declining or threatened species is fundamental to their effective conservation, but previous conventional methods such as banding have proved largely unsuccessful at the population level. New approaches to tracking migratory birds in North America, using stable isotope measurements of feathers, can assist in determining where feathers were grown and, hence, the origins of migrants on wintering grounds or stopover sites. Moreover, this approach is applicable to the use of metabolically inactive tissues of migratory animals other than birds. Here, we demonstrate how stable isotopes can be used to investigate the origins of a wintering population of a threatened species. The Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is declining throughout most of its range, but various factors may operate on different subpopulations. We used the stable-carbon (813C) and hydrogen (8D) isotope values in the outer tail feather of Loggerhead Shrikes wintering in Texas (n = 70), Florida (n = 121), and Georgia (n = 24) in 1997-1998, and northern Mexico (n = 72) in 1999, in order to ascertain the minimum percentage of wintering birds that were northern migrants. For comparative purposes, we also measured stable isotopic compositions of feathers from nestling shrikes from Manitoba (n = 6) and from known resident shrikes from Texas (n = 16). As expected, shrikes from Manitoba were more depleted in deuterium than shrikes from Texas, providing a clear isotopic gradient with which to compare the wintering population structure. Of wintering shrikes in Florida, 10% were northern migrants, compared with 8% for the Mexican sample and only 4% of the Texas population. We detected no northern migrants in the Georgia population. Most U.S. wintering shrikes had AD values around-30%0, indicative of southern latitudes, but a broader range in AD values was found for shrikes in northern Mexico. Shrikes wintering in Mexico may be composed largely of individuals originating from the eastern Rockies and central regions of the breeding range. The considerable variation in bl3C values indicated a broad range of C3- to C4-based food webs used by shrikes. Our study indicates that the stable isotopic technique answers a number of long- standing and fundamental questions concerning the breeding or natal origins of wintering populations of Loggerhead Shrikes and thereby provides a template for isotopic approaches to ecological investigations of other migratory species.

Distribution, environment and biology of batoid fishes off Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. A review

Available published and unpublished information on the distribution , environment and biology of batoid fishes occurring off Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina is summarized and reviewed for sixty species. Zoogeographic provinces proposed by Lopez (1963, 1964) are considered an adequate framework to define the distribution of these species. The Magellanic fauna, which includes the Pacific Ocean coast off Chile, is a well-defined biological unit. Conversely, the northern fauna changes gradually from the temperate Bonaerensean District off northern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil, to a subtropical and tropical fauna along most of the Brazilian coast. The more drastic change to a truly tropical fauna occurs off French Guiana and Surinam. Within the area studied, rajids are the dominant batoid family, with a large number of rhinobatids and myliobatoids to the north. A more detailed cluster analysis (Jaccard) of batoid distribution patterns, results in nine groups largely corresponding with biological and distributional information: Group I of Magellanic species, Group II of three Magellanic species extending into the Bonaerensean District, a small Group III formed by the deep water skates Bathyraja schroederi , Amblyraja frerichsi and Dasyatis cf . pastinaca , another small Group IV of species with uncommon distributions, Group V of Bonaerensean species, Group VI of relatively rare deep water species, Group VII of northern migrants into the Bonaerensean District, Group VIII of Brazilian species occurring in both the South Brazilian and Brazilian districts, and a completely different Group IX of Northern Brazilian species with their southern distributional limit usually at Rio de Janeiro. A large amount of information is available on many of the species, regarding depth and temperature of occurrence, patterns of distribution, and in many cases reproduction and feeding. Preliminary evaluations of abundance have been obtained for a few species only, but the risk of overfishing is clearly documented for some of them. An odd taxonomic - geographic situation is the status of D . cf. pastinaca , and a peculiar type of cloacal gestation has been described for Benthobatis (similar to that in Squatina ). Studies at community ecology level are discussed and full references provided, including many reports only published as meeting summaries.

Distribution and habitat use of Neotropical migrant landbirds in the Amazon basin and Andes

SummaryWe documented the geographical distributions and habitat selection of Neotropical migrants in South America along a successional gradient in the lowlands of Amazonian Peru, and along elevational gradients in the Andes of south-eastern Peru and of eastern and western Ecuador. Most of the 30 species of northern migrants that regularly winter in South America appear to be concentrated in the western edge of the Amazon basin and on the lower slopes (2,000 m) of the Andes. Migrants in a lowland site were documented more often in early successional habitats than in primary forest, and no species were confined to mature forest habitats. The number of species and relative abundance of migrants in primary forest, however, increased with elevation up to about 1,200 m and decreased above that elevation. Several species (Contopus borealis, Dendroica cerulea and Wilsonia canadensis) were largely confined to primary forest in the 1,000-2,000 m elevational zones in both Peru and Ecuador. Migrants on the western slope of the Ecuadorean Andes included several species that primarily winter further north. In general, the species richness of migrants and residents was inversely correlated, both on a biogeographical and a local scale. Migratory birds are most likely to be adversely affected by deforestation of the lower slopes of the Andes, which is proceeding at a rapid pace. The impact of human alterations of Amazonian forests will be greater on resident than on migratory birds. The loss of mid-successional lowland forests, however, might have a negative effect on several species.

Differences in Distribution of Breeding, Nonbreeding, and Migrant Bald Eagles on the Northern Chesapeake Bay

We compared the distributions of resident breeding, resident nonbreeding, and northern and southern migrant Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on the northern Chesapeake Bay from 1984-1988. Breeding eagles were dispersed throughout most of the study area and were resident all year. Dispersion of Chesapeake nonbreeding eagles was similar to the dispersion of breeding birds on the northern Chesapeake in summer and winter. Chesapeake nonbreeding eagles moved throughout most of the bay, 5 5% of radiotagged eagles were off the bay during any month. Radio-tagged northern migrants arrived in late fall (x = 21 December, n = 7, range = 61 days) and departed in early spring (. = 27 March, n = 14, range = 43 days). In contrast to local eagles, northern migrants were concentrated almost exclusively on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Radio-tagged southern migrants arrived throughout April-August (x = 6 June, n = 11, range = 94 days) and departed from June-October (9 = 3 September, n = 22, range = 119 days). Southern migrants were more dispersed than the northern migrants but less dispersed than the resident eagles. Northern Chesapeake eagle abundance peaked twice annually; in winter (e.g., 261 eagles, December 1987), due to the presence of northern eagles, and in summer (e.g., 604 eagles, August 1988), due to the presence of southern birds.

Do willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus of northern origin start their autumn migration at an earlier age than their southern conspecifics?

Data on hatching time in the willow warbler for different regions (S Germany, S Sweden and N Sweden) are compared with the median of the corresponding migration diagrams. By doing so it is possible to calculate the age, at which the young of the year start their autumn migration. Our calculated values for the above mentioned regions are 68, 62–66 and 61–62 d, respectively. In our opinion this difference is too small to justify the statement, that northern birds migrate at an earlier age than their southern conspecifics. An alternative explanation is that the German migration diagrams are influenced by the passage of northern migrants, resulting in a later median and an apparently higher age for southern birds.

Responses of Naive Temperate Birds to Warning Coloration

Eight house sparrows (Passer domesticus), seven blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) and two red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), hand-reared on moderately varied diets, were offered a series of colors and patterns painted on wooden dowel models. All three species attacked every color and pattern without measurable hesitation; this included two patterns avoided by similarly hand-reared neotropical omnivores. The temperate birds' attack on aposematic patterns and their tolerance of novelty suggest that there is no widespread mechanism allowing newly fledged birds to reject the first aposematically marked organisms they encounter. The blue jays and red-winged blackbirds attacked a coral snake pattern, even though individuals of both species migrate into coral snake range, and young coral snakes are both prey-sized and potentially lethal. The difference in behavior between these northern migrants and the neotropical omnivores studies earlier may be related to the age at which each can encounter its first coral snake.

Some Recent Australian Writing on Immigration and Assimilation

Since the end of the Second World War Australia has experienced large-scale, sustained immigration which has significantly increased the ethnic heterogeneity of the society in which some one in four of the total population are now either post-war immigrants or their Australian-born children. Given the size and varied nature of this immigration it is scarcely surprising that it has attracted much speculation and research. Rather than attempting to cover all the material this article concen? trates on the more accessible material, particularly that published since 1970, which incorporates the results of the author's research. This selectivity is made possible by the availability of the first two in a series of bibliographies edited by Charles Price.l Apart from providing detailed coverage of post-war and selected pre-war writings on immigration, the bibliographies provide details of ongoing research and excellent intro? ductory essays. In the first bibliography Price examines the range of concepts and theories which have been developed in Australia and elsewhere to explain the nature of immigrant assimilation.2 In the second bibliography the essays include one in which Price discusses the trends in post-war immigrations,3 Burnley surveys the material relating to various aspects of the adjustment of Northern and Southern European migrants in Australia,4 while Kunz does the same for material on refugees and Eastern Europeans.5 A final essay by Burnley discusses the material relating to New Zealand immigration which is included in the second bibliography.6

Le peuplement avien. Essai d’étude quantitative.

The avifauna of the Lamto area has been studied during a two year period. 263 species have been recorded and the habitat preferences, diet, breeding periodicity and fecundity of the major species studied. 43 % of the birds are forest species. Only very few of them are abundant, eight species accounting for half of the total numbers of birds counted. Migrants are numerous in the savanna ; one third of them are palearctic passerines, while local migrants are represented mainly by non-passerine families. 90 % of the species are more or less omnivorous, but all migrants show a distinct preference for insect food. Breeding occurs throughout the year : among the 124 commoner species, 62 % breed during the rains and 23 % during the dry season. Fecundity is low and the same female seldom reproduces twice during the year. Counts have been made regularly on a line-transect 12.5 km long and 40 m wide. Monthly variations of numbers and biomasses are given in tables V and VI. Contrary to the situation further North, seasonal variations are small in the forest-savanna mosaic. There are two peaks : the first one, from February to May, corresponds to an influx of northern migrants ; the second, from July to September, is attributable to the natural increase of sedentary species and an influx of fruit-eaters. Minimum values are found in December, at the beginning of the dry season. The average yearly biomass of birds for the Lamto savanna is in the order of 1 kg/ha (fresh weight).

Return of Northern Migrants to Tropical Winter Quarters and Banded Birds Recovered in the United States

Return of Northern Migrants to Tropical Winter Quarters and Banded Birds Recovered in the United States

The Community Reference System, Religiosity, and Race Attitudes

An empirical study was made of the attitude toward desegregation among northern migrants who are members of a religious minority in Tallahassee, Florida, during and after the bus boycott incident. Findings suggest that moral values, though important, do not decisively determine the individual's attitudes toward desegregation. Residential stability and subjective identification with the southern community seem to be crucial factors, thus confirming Campbell and Pettigrew's Little Rock study.

NOTES ON NORTHERN MIGRANTS OBSERVED INLAND IN BRITISH GUIANA

Summary.1. The scarcity of northern migrants in British Guiana and the South American tropics generally is commented on.2. 40 species of migrants, exclusing rare vagrants, from North America are known to occur in British Guiana; 24 of these have been recorded from the Bartica district. In each case nearly half are waders.3. The number of species found in the Bartica district of British Guiana is compared with the number recorded in a recent intensive study of an inland area near the Caribbean coast of northeastern Venezuela, where 12 of the 16 northern migrants noted were waders.4. A list of migrants from North America observed at the tropical research station of the New York Zoological Society at Kartabo (Bartica district) is criticized.5. Notes from the writer's own observations on inland occurrences in British Guiana of 19 migrants and one rare vagrant are given.6. Notes on two other species, the Swallow‐tailed Kite Elanoides forficatus (a resident race occurs), and the Black Swift Nephoecetes niger, whose winter range is unknown, are included.