Skip Navigation


Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on April 13, 2005
Behavioral Ecology 2005 16(4):732-740; doi:10.1093/beheco/ari046
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/4/732    most recent
ari046v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Erni, B.
Right arrow Articles by Bruderer, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Erni, B.
Right arrow Articles by Bruderer, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

The role of wind in passerine autumn migration between Europe and Africa

Birgit Erni, Felix Liechti and Bruno Bruderer

Swiss Ornithological Institute, CH-6204 Sempach, Switzerland

Address correspondence to B. Erni, who is now at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, P.O. Box 3045 STN CSC, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P4, Canada. E-mail: birgit{at}math.uvic.ca.

Large ecological barriers such as oceans and deserts have considerably shaped the migratory strategies of birds. The ecological barriers posed by the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Sahara seem to prevent most long-distance migrants from flying on a direct southward course from Europe to Africa. Migratory routes toward southwest and southeast prevail. These two flyways differ with respect to topography, refueling possibilities, and wind conditions. Aiming at a better understanding of the evolution of both flyways in spite of differing conditions, we studied potential survival of passerine birds on their first autumn migration from northern Europe to tropical Africa by means of a computer simulation. Considering real wind conditions at 850 mb (approximately 1500 m above sea level), the survival rates of birds with southeasterly (SE) migratory directions were much higher than those of birds with southwesterly (SW) directions. With the possibility to choose the altitude (from four levels) with the most favorable wind, both SE and SW migrants had similar high survival, but only with refueling opportunities in northwest (NW) Africa for SW migrants. Our results suggest that the southwestern flyway depends on the selection of days, but especially altitudes, with favorable wind conditions and on refueling opportunities in NW Africa. The SE flyway is privileged by the frequent favorable wind conditions for crossing the eastern Mediterranean Sea and the Egyptian desert, where refueling sites are almost absent. Both autumn migration routes would be unlikely without wind assistance.

Key words: autumn migration, ecological barriers, migration routes, passerine migration, Sahara, simulation, wind.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
J. Shamoun-Baranes, E. van Loon, F. Liechti, and W. Bouten
Analyzing the effect of wind on flight: pitfalls and solutions
J. Exp. Biol., January 1, 2007; 210(1): 82 - 90.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.