Research Group: Zoology, Biodiversity and Toxicology, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek, Agoralaan, Gebouw D, 3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
Department of Geography, Institute of Life, Earth and Environment (ILEE), University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000, Namur, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2022 Mar 23;12(1):4964. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09106-y.
During their annual migration, avian migrants alternate stopover periods, for refuelling, with migratory flight bouts. We hypothesise that European Nightjars (Caprimulgus europaeus) adapt their daily migration tactics in association with biomes. We tracked the autumn migration of 24 European Nightjars, from breeding populations in Mongolia, Belgium and UK, using GPS-loggers and multi-sensor data loggers. We quantified crepuscular and nocturnal migration and foraging probabilities, as well as daily travel speed and flight altitude during active migration in response to biomes. Nightjars adopt a rush tactic, reflected in high daily travel speed, flight altitude and high migration probabilities at dusk and at night, when travelling through ecological barriers. Migration is slower in semi-open, hospitable biomes. This is reflected in high foraging probabilities at dusk, lower daily travel speed and lower migration probabilities at dusk. Our study shows how nightjars switch migration tactics during autumn migration, and suggest nightjars alternate between feeding and short migratory flight bouts within the same night when travelling through suitable habitats. How this may affect individuals' fuel stores and whether different biomes provide refuelling opportunities en route remains to be investigated, to understand how future land-use change may affect migration patterns and survival probabilities.
在每年的迁徙过程中，候鸟会在停歇期和迁徙飞行之间交替进行加油。我们假设欧洲夜莺（Caprimulgus europaeus）会根据生物群落来调整其每日迁徙策略。我们使用 GPS 记录器和多传感器数据记录器，对来自蒙古、比利时和英国繁殖地的 24 只欧洲夜莺的秋季迁徙进行了追踪。我们量化了黄昏和夜间的迁徙和觅食概率，以及在活跃迁徙期间的日旅行速度和飞行高度，以响应生物群落。夜莺采用了冲刺策略，表现为在黄昏和夜间穿越生态屏障时，日旅行速度、飞行高度和迁徙概率较高。在半开放、适宜的生物群落中，迁徙速度较慢。这反映在黄昏时觅食概率较高，日旅行速度较低，黄昏时迁徙概率较低。我们的研究表明，夜莺在秋季迁徙中如何改变迁徙策略，并表明夜莺在穿越适宜栖息地的同一晚内，会在觅食和短暂迁徙飞行之间交替进行。这将如何影响个体的燃料储备，以及不同的生物群落是否在途中提供加油机会，还有待进一步研究，以了解未来的土地利用变化将如何影响迁徙模式和生存概率。
