Ring Recovery Data Research Articles

From Siberia to Indonesia: tracking the migration of the Arctic Warbler Phylloscopus borealis

Little is known regarding the migration routes of Siberian songbird populations. Here we provide the first geolocator tracking data for an Arctic Warbler breeding in Central Siberia and compare its movements with eight long-distance ring recoveries of this species. In autumn, the tracked individual migrated eastward to a stopover site in eastern Siberia, before migrating southward through Taiwan to its non-breeding sites in the Philippines and Indonesia. During spring migration, the bird spent at least one month at stopover sites in Mongolia, before migrating to its breeding site in June. Ring recovery data confirmed the movement between the Central Siberian breeding grounds and stopover sites in northern Mongolia.

Usage of ring-recovery data for the background for the Migration Atlas of the European Anseriform birds

The atlas was prepared from the data on ring-recovery database of the Bird Ringing Centre of Russia (Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences). We plan to publish an extended version of the atlas on the base of bird ring-recovery data. The Atlas will consist not only description of the migratory routes but a consideration of several population parameters of the focal species, as well as, the spatial distribution characteristics of recoveries and even probable practical use of the obtained population parameters values. More than 42000 ring recoveries of 36 European waterfowl species were used. Besides the standard description of the migratory routes, monthly distribution of recoveries, maps of direct and indirect recoveries, etc., the Atlas contains some additional information. In particular, the population structure of species: geographical populations were revealed. It is known that these populations served as a basement of the flyway conception. Then we elaborated math model allows calculating mean yearly mortality rate for each species, in different periods, males and females, etc. Ring-recovery data of a number of species shows the influence of the global warming on the waterfowl. Wintering sites usually are permanent; however breeding places shift more and more to the north. Therefore, mean distance between wintering and breeding places progressively increasing during 20th and the beginning of the 21th century. In addition, the distribution of recoveries in relation to each other along the area was described: 1) it was possible to calculate the degree of aggregation of recoveries (aggregation) for the species with the most numerous recoveries, specifically – to calculate the mean distance from each recovery to its nearest neighbour (mean minimal distance between recoveries); 2) degree of recovery concentration in groups (concentration) with different number of recoveries that located at not more than some distance (might be called as “key distance”) from each other. The distance between recoveries within such groups is less than the distance between groups (clusters). The distribution of recoveries in connection with ecological capacities of the area where these recoveries are located is described for the first time. The distribution of recoveries by their proximity to the different waterbodies is compared: to small and big rivers, lakes, and to the seashore. The exploratory analysis of the separate and mutual numbers dynamics in the two systematically close waterfowl species was performed.

Migratory Connections in the Waterfowl of Northwestern Siberia Based on Ring-Recovery Data

Migratory Connections in the Waterfowl of Northwestern Siberia Based on Ring-Recovery Data

A compilation of common crossbill Loxia curvirostraL., 1758 ring-recovery data from the Iberian Peninsula and other European regions

In November 2021, a female common crossbill ringed in Switzerland was found in the Sistema Central mountain range, within the administrative border of the Community of Madrid (Spain). This is an unusal record due to the lack of data on irruptions of this species from central or northern Europe in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. In this study, we have compiled all the existing common crossbill ring-recovery data from Iberia and other European regions. Our results show that common crossbill populations in the Iberian Peninsula are mainly sedentary, with limited movements across the different pine forest masses in search of food. In contrast, northern European common crossbill populations develop long distance migratory movements that may involve a large number of individuals following a NE-SW axis that, in an irregular manner and depending on the year, can arrive in the Iberian Peninsula in mid-August or September, where they may remain for several years before returning to their places of origin. In the Iberian Peninsula, these crossbills seem to use the pine species available as a trophic resource according to their ecological speciation, including species not present in their regions of origin.

Non-breeding sites, loop migration and flight activity patterns over the annual cycle in the Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor from a north-western edge of its range

The Lesser Grey Shrike is a typical Palaearctic songbird for which we have limited knowledge of its migration ecology. All that is known about its non-breeding movements is inferred from observational data of birds on passage. The few available ring recovery data do not link breeding and African non-breeding grounds. By deploying two types of loggers, light-level geolocators and multi-sensor loggers, on birds from a declining Slovak breeding population, we present the first direct evidence for non-breeding grounds, loop migration, stopover sites and the timing of annual cycle events. With barometric data, we provide details on flight altitudes during migration. The two tracked birds migrated in a clear anti-clockwise loop to S Africa. Autumn migration tracks went through the Balkan Peninsula, Mediterranean Sea towards Libya with unusually long stays around N Chad and Niger. The next stopovers were in Angola, and the main non-breeding sites were in Botswana. Spring migration commenced on March 29 and April 7 and the birds took routes along East African countries, with stopovers later in Somalia and Saudi Arabia, before crossing the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Nocturnal migration dominated, but for three days in August, while crossing the Sahara Desert, the bird extended flights into the day with a sudden increase in flight altitudes at dawn. Flight altitudes were higher during barrier crossing and during the last phase of spring migration compared to the remaining periods, with the most extreme event recorded at 4530 m asl.

A general modeling framework for open wildlife populations based on the Polya tree prior.

Wildlife monitoring for open populations can be performed using a number of different survey methods. Each survey method gives rise to a type of data and, in the last five decades, a large number of associated statistical models have been developed for analyzing these data. Although these models have been parameterized and fitted using different approaches, they have all been designed to either model the pattern with which individuals enter and/or exit the population, or to estimate the population size by accounting for the corresponding observation process, or both. However, existing approaches rely on a predefined model structure and complexity, either by assuming that parameters linked to the entry and exit pattern (EEP) are specific to sampling occasions, or by employing parametric curves to describe the EEP. Instead, we propose a novel Bayesian nonparametric framework for modeling EEPs based on the Polya tree (PT) prior for densities. Our Bayesian nonparametric approach avoids overfitting when inferring EEPs, while simultaneously allowing more flexibility than is possible using parametric curves. Finally, we introduce the replicate PT prior for defining classes of models for these data allowing us to impose constraints on the EEPs, when required. We demonstrate our new approach using capture-recapture, count, and ring-recovery data for two different casestudies.

Migration distance affects how closely Eurasian wigeons follow spring phenology during migration

BackgroundThe timing of migration for herbivorous migratory birds is thought to coincide with spring phenology as emerging vegetation supplies them with the resources to fuel migration, and, in species with a capital breeding strategy also provides individuals with energy for use on the breeding grounds. Individuals with very long migration distances might however have to trade off between utilising optimal conditions en route and reaching the breeding grounds early, potentially leading to them overtaking spring on the way. Here, we investigate whether migration distance affects how closely individually tracked Eurasian wigeons follow spring phenology during spring migration.MethodsWe captured wigeons in the Netherlands and Lithuania and tracked them throughout spring migration to identify staging sites and timing of arrival. Using temperature-derived indicators of spring phenology, we investigated how maximum longitude reached and migration distance affected how closely wigeons followed spring. We further estimated the impact of tagging on wigeon migration by comparing spring migratory timing between tracked individuals and ring recovery data sets.ResultsWigeons migrated to locations between 300 and 4000 km from the capture site, and migrated up to 1000 km in a single day. We found that wigeons migrating to more north-easterly locations followed spring phenology more closely, and increasingly so the greater distance they had covered during migration. Yet we also found that despite tags equalling only around 2% of individual’s body mass, individuals were on average 11–12 days slower than ring-marked individuals from the same general population.DiscussionOverall, our results suggest that migratory strategy can vary dependent on migration distance within species, and even within the same migratory corridor. Individual decisions thus depend not only on environmental cues, but potentially also trade-offs made during later life-history stages.

Correcting Bias in Survival Probabilities for Partially Monitored Populations via Integrated Models

We provide an integrated capture–recapture–recovery framework for partially monitored populations. In these studies, live resightings are only observable at a set of monitored locations, so that if an individual leaves these specific locations, they become unavailable for capture. Additional ring-recovery data reduce the corresponding bias obtained in the survival probability estimates from capture–recapture data due to the confounding with colony dispersal. We derive an explicit efficient likelihood expression for the integrated capture–recapture–recovery data, and state the associated sufficient statistics. We demonstrate the significant improvements in the estimation of the survival probabilities using the integrated approach for a colony of guillemots (Uria aalge), where we additionally specify a hierarchical approach to deal with low sample size over the early period of the study.Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online.

The allometry of movement predicts the connectivity of communities

Connectivity has long played a central role in ecological and evolutionary theory and is increasingly emphasized for conserving biodiversity. Nonetheless, connectivity assessments often focus on individual species even though understanding and preserving connectivity for entire communities is urgently needed. Here we derive and test a framework that harnesses the well-known allometric scaling of animal movement to predict community-level connectivity across protected area networks. We used a field translocation experiment involving 39 species of southern African birds to quantify movement capacity, scaled this relationship to realized dispersal distances determined from ring-and-recovery banding data, and used allometric scaling equations to quantify community-level connectivity based on multilayer network theory. The translocation experiment explained observed dispersal distances from ring-recovery data and emphasized allometric scaling of dispersal based on morphology. Our community-level networks predicted that larger-bodied species had a relatively high potential for connectivity, while small-bodied species had lower connectivity. These community networks explained substantial variation in observed bird diversity across protected areas. Our results highlight that harnessing allometric scaling can be an effective way of determining large-scale community connectivity. We argue that this trait-based framework founded on allometric scaling provides a means to predict connectivity for entire communities, which can foster empirical tests of community theory and contribute to biodiversity conservation strategies aimed at mitigating the effects of environmental change.

Using geolocator tracking data and ringing archives to validate citizen-science based seasonal predictions of bird distribution in a data-poor region

Unstructured citizen-science data are increasingly used for analysing the abundance and distribution of species. Here we test the usefulness of such data to predict the seasonal distribution of migratory songbirds, and to analyse patterns of migratory connectivity.We used bird occurrence data from eBird, one of the largest global citizen science databases, to predict the year-round distribution of eight songbird taxa (Agropsar philippensis, Calliope calliope, Cecropis daurica, Emberiza aureola, Hirundo rustica, Locustella certhiola, Oriolus chinensis, Saxicola torquatus stejnegeri) that migrate through East Asia, a region especially poor in data but globally important for the conservation of migratory land birds. Maximum entropy models were built to predict spring stopover, autumn stopover and wintering areas. Ring recovery and geolocator tracking data were then used to evaluate, how well the predicted occurrence at a given period of the annual cycle matched sites where the species were known to be present from ringing and tracking data.Predicted winter ranges were generally smaller than those on published extent-of-occurrence maps (the hitherto only available source of distribution information). There was little overlap in stopover regions. The overlap between areas predicted as suitable from the eBird data and areas that had records from geolocator tracking was high in winter, and lower for spring and autumn migration. Less than 50% of the ringing recoveries came from locations within the seasonal predicted areas, with the highest overlap in autumn. The seasonal range size of a species affected the matching of tracking/ringing data with the predictions. Strong migratory connectivity was evident in Siberian Rubythroats and Barn Swallows. We identified two migration corridors, one over the eastern mainland of China, and one along a chain of islands in the Pacific.We show that the combination of disparate data sources has great potential to gain a better understanding of the non-breeding distribution and migratory connectivity of Eastern Palearctic songbirds. Citizen-science observation data are useful even in remote areas to predict the seasonal distribution of migratory species, especially in periods when birds are sedentary and when supplemented with tracking data.

Designation of flyways and genetic structure of Woodpigeon Columba palumbus in Europe and Morocco

The Woodpigeon Columba palumbus is an abundant and widespread Palearctic species that uses multiple flyways in Europe. The designation of the main flyways of Woodpigeon in Europe and the study of the genetic structure of the populations are necessary for the sustainable management of this species. Both ringing recovery data of Woodpigeons and mtDNA D-loop sequences from 606 individuals sampled across Europe and in Morocco were used in this study. In total, 763 direct recoveries of birds ringed during the breeding season in 1908–2016 were analysed, while D-loop sequences were analysed from 416 birds sampled in 2014–2018 and 190 individuals that had been sampled in 2004–2009 for a preliminary investigation. In the median-joining network of D-loop haplotypes, six haplogroups were identified in Woodpigeons from various biogeographical populations. Certain differences in the frequency of haplogroups were found between resident Woodpigeons of the Iberian Peninsula and migratory birds from Eastern and Northern Europe. Relatively low genetic variability within the D-loop was observed in samples of resident birds from the Balearic Islands and the Iberian Peninsula. No genetic variation was found in resident Woodpigeons breeding in Morocco. The analysis of ringing recovery data and distribution patterns of different haplotypes confirmed that Woodpigeons from the north and east of Europe use the Eastern Atlantic flyway, while birds breeding in Hungary use the Mediterranean flyway. It is likely that Woodpigeons from south-eastern Russia, eastern Ukraine and birds breeding further east use the Black Sea flyway. It was also confirmed that the majority of Woodpigeons breeding in Belgium are resident or short-distance migrants. Due to the variability identified in the genetic make-up of different populations of Woodpigeons in Europe, we remark the management implications regarding the species that are relevant in various regions of the continent.

Migratory movements of British and Irish Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna: a review of ringing data and a pilot tracking study to inform potential interactions with offshore wind farms in the North Sea

ABSTRACT Offshore wind farms are a key part of the UK government strategy to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate-change impacts; however, it is important to understand their potential impacts on wildlife. The majority of British and Irish Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna undergo a moult migration to the Wadden Sea, passing wind farms in the southern North Sea en route. We conducted a review of ring-recovery data from the British and Irish Ringing Scheme and a pilot tracking study to inform understanding of migration routes. Analysis of recovery data confirmed that British and Irish Shelduck occurred in the Wadden Sea predominantly between August and November, and use moulting sites in the Dutch Wadden Sea and Helgoland Bight. Four Shelduck were successfully tracked from East Anglia to the Wadden Sea. Four separate routes across the North Sea were identified, with previously unreported stopovers noted in the Dutch Wadden Sea, before birds continued on to moult sites in the Helgoland Bight. Flight speeds of 30.3 ± 9.2 knots (n = 299, range 8.7–55.0 knots) were recorded, and altitudes of up to 354 m. An expansion to the tracking study is planned, to increase sample sizes and geographical representation.

Assessment of the breeding and wintering sites of Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) occurring in Hungary based on ringing recovery data

Abstract Using the latest dataset of the Hungarian Bird Ringing Centre, the aims of this study were to describe the monthly spatial pattern of woodcock occurrence and to assess the main wintering and breeding areas of the birds associated with Hungary in the last decade. Descriptive analyses were performed regarding the annual number of detections (ringing, recaptures and recoveries), and the relation between the annual number of woodcock ringers and the number of ringed birds was tested. Minimum convex polygons (MCP) were calculated for the detections of each month, and the variation of the monthly MCP size was evaluated. Distances of all detection locations were measured from the geographical central point of Hungary, and the distributions of these distances were compared among the months. The annual number of ringed birds increased, however it was not in relation with the number of people involved in ringing. The rate of recoveries was 7.5%. Two types of the reco very circumstances were registered: 89.9% by hunting, 10.1% found dead. MCPs were calculated for eight months. Each MCP overlapped with Hungary, to varying degrees, however remarkable differences were found in the MCP sizes among the different months. The largest areas were covered in December, January and February, while the areas in September and October were less than half of that size. The shortest distances to the country were registered in March, April, October, and November. Moderate distances were recorded in May and September, and the longest distances were found in December, January and February. Large amount of data is available about the wintering areas, and a wide wintering zone can be estimated. In contrast, there is no or only very little information about the areas covered in summer.

Natal origins and timing of migration of two passerine species through the southern Alps: inferences from multiple stable isotopes (δ2H, δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) and ringing data

Understanding spatial linkages between areas used by migratory animals during the annual cycle is fundamental to their conservation. Stable isotope measurements of animal tissues can be a valuable tool in understanding spatial connectivity and migration phenology of migratory wildlife. We inferred natal origins of two migratory passerines, European Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and European Robin Erithacus rubecula, captured during autumn migration in the Italian Alps, by combining feather δ2H (δ2Hf) and ring recovery data. We used a spatially explicit likelihood‐based method to assign individuals to a precipitation δ2H surface calibrated to represent feather δ2H, together with the directional probability of origin from ring recoveries. The highest probabilities of origin for most individuals of both species were in central and north‐eastern Europe. Seasonal trends in δ2Hf, which described the species’ migratory phenology through the Italian Alps, were correlated with feather δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values, indicating strong spatial discrimination related to continental patterns for these isotopes. We demonstrate how this combined information can define catchment areas and migratory connectivity of birds intercepted in the Alps. We highlight the importance of ringing data in defining directional priors to define Bayesian‐based probability surfaces using continental δ2Hf isoscapes, and how such information can be used to inform estimates of migratory connectivity.

A quantitative ring recovery analysis of migration in European Water Rails Rallus aquaticus

The Water Rail Rallus aquaticus is generally regarded as a facultative migrant in which migration patterns vary geographically. However, quantitative analyses of migration directions and how migration distances vary across Europe are hitherto lacking. We analysed recoveries of Water Rails ringed in Europe and tested for a general migration direction in this material. From previous literature descriptions we predicted birds to migrate farther the longer north and east they breed. More than half of the birds included in the data set were ringed in Germany (48%) and Hungary (12%) and most winter recoveries came from SW coastal Europe. We found that the migratory direction in autumn was strongly oriented towards SW with no effect of latitude or longitude of the breeding site. There were no differences in migration direction between old (2Y+) and young (1Y) birds, or between males and females, although sample sizes were admittedly small in the latter comparison. As predicted, migration distances were positively correlated with both latitude and longitude of breeding sites. We encourage more trapping and ringing of Water Rails breeding and wintering across Europe in order to improve the ring recovery data. The use of modern tracking devices like light-level geolocators also has a high potential of improving our understanding of migratory ecology in this secretive species.

An Assessment of the Annual Mortality Rate and Population Demographics Status in Birds Based on Ring-Recovery Data

A new method for assessing the annual mortality rate in bird populations is described. Ring recoveries from birds that died from various causes serve as the basis for such an assessment. The commonly accepted technique for such an assessment performed with the help of MARK software is laborious, yet fails to ensure a highly precise assessment. To calculate the mortality rate, we propose an exponential demographic model that is based on the geometric progression of a decrease in the annual numbers in some arbitrarily selected set of birds in a population. The equation of the model allows calculating the annual mortality rate of a bird population or even a species in a simple way, if the ringing data covers a vast area, for example, the territory of Russia. In addition, the proposed equation permits producing “a mortality pattern,” namely, to present a chart of interrelations between the theoretical and real rates of the decrease in numbers in a given cohort of birds. The interrelations between the theoretical and real annual mortality rates allow understanding the status of a bird population each year during a period of ringing and recovery collecting: this makes it possible to reveal the population trend about whether the population is stable or decreasing or increasing in numbers.

Partial migration and decreasing migration distance in the Hungarian population of the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758): Analysis of 85 years of ring recovery data

AbstractThe Common Blackbird is a partial migrant throughout much of its range in Europe. That is, part of its breeding population migrates while the rest stays at the breeding ground for winter. Given the rapidly changing global climate, it is important to understand how migratory birds, including partial migrants, respond to shifting climatic conditions. In this study, I analyzed 85 years of ring recovery data of the Hungarian population of the Blackbird, ringed during the breeding season and recovered during migration or winter, with two objectives in mind: (1) to assess whether the Hungarian Blackbird population is also partially migratory, and (2) to test the prediction that Blackbirds have exhibited decreasing migration distances over the past decades as expected based on warming winter temperatures. Hungarian Blackbirds expressed both migratory and resident strategies, thus can be considered as partial migrants. Furthermore, Blackbirds had been recovered increasingly closer (-5.9 km/year) to their breeding grounds in the past decades. Age and sex had no effects on recovery distance. Provided that this trend continues, the adaptive benefits of migratory behavior may eventually be reduced to a level that selection will not maintain it in the population and the Hungarian population becomes entirely sedentary. Surprisingly, 88% of migrant recoveries were the result of shooting or hunting activities in Mediterranean countries, primarily in Italy, highlighting both the need to understand the effects of hunting pressure on migratory behavior at the population level in songbirds and the urgency to ban the killing of migratory birds in European countries.

The Migration of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in Eastern Europe - A Ringing Recovery and Direct Observation Approach

Abstract We examined ringing recovery data of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni in order to analyse its migration patterns and philopatry rates in Eastern Europe. In addition, we extracted counts of migrating birds from online databases and studied the use of the flyway as well as the phenology of both spring and autumn migrations through Greece. Birds appeared to migrate in the same mean direction in spring and autumn through the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas. During spring, movements took place on a broad front from March until mid- May with a peak in mid-April; in autumn, birds migrated through Greece on a narrower front from early August to early October, with most of individuals passing through Greece in mid-September. Finally, philopatry rates were higher for adults, while juvenile birds dispersed more often and at longer distances, up to 974 km away. Our results on migration patterns generally agree with those in other studies, but we found some evidence of long-distance premigratory movements towards mainland Greece that could also shape the narrower front migration in autumn. In addition, long distance dispersal movements of juveniles in southeastern Europe, where Lesser Kestrel populations show a fragmented distribution, could facilitate gene flow between populations, thus avoiding the negative effects of mating with genetically similar individuals.

Investigating Rates of Hunting and Survival in Declining European Lapwing Populations.

Understanding effects of harvest on population dynamics is of major interest, especially for declining species. European lapwing Vanellus vanellus populations increased from the 1960s until the 1980s and declined strongly thereafter. About 400,000 lapwings are harvested annually and it is thus of high conservation relevance to assess whether hunting was a main cause for the observed changes in lapwing population trends. We developed a multi-event cause-specific mortality model which we applied to a long-term ring-recovery data set (1960–2010) of > 360,000 records to estimate survival and cause-specific mortalities. We found no temporal change in survival over the last 50 years for first-year (FY) and older birds (after first-year; AFY) originating from different ringing areas. Mean survival was high, around 0.60 and 0.80 for FY and AFY individuals, respectively. The proportion of total mortality due to hunting was <0.10 over the study period and the estimated proportion of harvested individuals (kill rate) was <0.05 in each year. Our result of constant survival indicates that demographic processes other than survival were responsible for the pronounced change in lapwing population trends in the 1980s. Our findings lend support to the hypothesis that hunting was not a significant contributor to the large-scale decline of lapwing populations. To halt the ongoing decline of European lapwing populations management should focus on life history stages other than survival (e.g. productivity). Further analyses are required to investigate the contribution of other demographic rates to the decline of lapwings and to identify the most efficient conservation actions.

Insights into the migration of the European Roller from ring recoveries

Despite recent advances in avian tracking technology, archival devices still present several limitations. Traditional ring recoveries provide a complementary method for studying migratory movements, particularly for cohorts of birds with a low return rate to the breeding site. Here we provide the first international analysis of ring recovery data in the European Roller Coracias garrulus, a long-distance migrant of conservation concern. Our data comprise 58 records of Rollers ringed during the breeding season and recovered during the non-breeding season. Most records come from Eastern Europe, half are of juveniles and over three quarters are of dead birds. Thus, ring recoveries provide migration data for cohorts of Rollers—juveniles and unsuccessful migrants—for which no information currently exists, complementing recent tracking studies. Qualitatively, our results are consistent with direct tracking studies, illustrating a broad-front migration across the Mediterranean Basin in autumn and the use of the Arabian Peninsula by Rollers from eastern populations in spring. Autumn movements were, on average, in a more southerly direction for juveniles than adults, which were more easterly. Juvenile autumn recovery direction also appeared to be more variable than in adults, though this difference was not statistically significant. This is consistent with juveniles following a naïve vector-based orientation program, and perhaps explains the ‘moderate’ migratory connectivity previously described for the Roller. In the first (qualitative) analysis of Roller non-breeding season mortality, we highlight the high prevalence of shooting. The recovery age ratio was juvenile-biased in autumn but adult-biased in spring. Although not statistically significant, this difference points towards a higher non-breeding season mortality of juveniles than adults. Our study demonstrates the complementarity of ring recoveries to direct tracking, providing an insight into the migration of juvenile Rollers and non-breeding season mortality.