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Avian Research 2022, 13(1): 100011 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100011
Research | Open Access | Issue | Published: 28 February 2022

Detecting the non-breeding region and migration route of Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus rogachevae) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

Show Author's Information Fenliang Kuanga,b,  Wei Wuc,  David Lid,  Chris J. Hasselle,f,  Grace Magliof,  Kar-Sin K. Leungg,  Jonathan T. Colemanh,  Chuyu Chenga,  Pavel S. Tomkovichi,  Zhijun Maa( )
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
School of Resources Environment and Chemistry, Chuxiong Normal University, Chuxiong, Yunnan, 675000, China
Shanghai Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve, Shanghai, 202183, China
National Parks Board, Singapore, 718925, Singapore
Global Flyway Network, PO Box 3089, Broome, WA, 6725, Australia
Australasian Wader Studies Group, Broome, WA, 6725, Australia
Hong Kong Waterbirds Ringing Group, Hong Kong, 999077, China
Queensland Wader Study Group, 22 Parker Street, Shailer Park, QLD, 4128, Australia
Zoological Museum, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str. 2, Moscow, 125009, Russia
Keywords:
Satellite tracking, Subspecies, Migratory connectivity, Non-breeding area, Numenius phaeopus, Stopover site
Cite this article:
Kuang F, Wu W, Li D, et al. Detecting the non-breeding region and migration route of Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus rogachevae) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. Avian Research, 2022, 13(1): 100011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100011
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Abstract Full text About this article

Determining the migration routes and connections of migratory birds at the population level helps clarify intraspecific differences in migration. Five subspecies have been recognized in the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) in Eurasia. Ssp. rogachevae is the most recently described subspecies. It breeds in Central Siberia, while its non-breeding region and migration routes are still unclear. We tracked the migration of Eurasian Whimbrels captured at three non-breeding sites (Moreton Bay in east coast of Australia, Roebuck Bay in Northwest Australia and Sungei Buloh Wetland in Singapore) and two migration stopover sites (Chongming Dongtan and Mai Po Wetland in China). We determined the breeding sites and inferred the subspecies of the tagged birds in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) based on the known breeding distribution of each subspecies. Of the 30 tagged birds, 6 and 21 birds bred in the breeding range of ssp. rogachevae and variegatus, respectively; one bred in the presumed transition area between the breeding range of ssp. phaeopus and rogachevae, and two bred in the region between the breeding range of ssp. rogachevae and variegatus. The birds that bred in the ssp. rogachevae breeding range spent their non-breeding season in the northern Sumatra, Singapore, East Java and Northwest Australia and mainly stopped over along China's coasts during migration. None of our birds bred in the exclusive breeding range of the phaeopus subspecies. Previous studies have predicted that rogachevae whimbrels migrate along the Central Asian Flyway and spend the non-breeding season in West India and East Africa. We found that at least some rogachevae whimbrels migrate along the EAAF and spend the non-breeding season in Southeast Asia and Australia. The ssp. phaeopus is at best sparsely distributed in the EAAF in the west region, or possibly does not occur at all.


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About this article

Detecting the non-breeding region and migration route of Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus rogachevae) in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway

Show Author's information Fenliang Kuanga,b, Wei Wuc, David Lid, Chris J. Hasselle,f, Grace Magliof, Kar-Sin K. Leungg, Jonathan T. Colemanh, Chuyu Chenga, Pavel S. Tomkovichi, Zhijun Maa( )
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, National Observations and Research Station for Wetland Ecosystems of the Yangtze Estuary, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China
School of Resources Environment and Chemistry, Chuxiong Normal University, Chuxiong, Yunnan, 675000, China
Shanghai Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve, Shanghai, 202183, China
National Parks Board, Singapore, 718925, Singapore
Global Flyway Network, PO Box 3089, Broome, WA, 6725, Australia
Australasian Wader Studies Group, Broome, WA, 6725, Australia
Hong Kong Waterbirds Ringing Group, Hong Kong, 999077, China
Queensland Wader Study Group, 22 Parker Street, Shailer Park, QLD, 4128, Australia
Zoological Museum, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Str. 2, Moscow, 125009, Russia

Abstract

Determining the migration routes and connections of migratory birds at the population level helps clarify intraspecific differences in migration. Five subspecies have been recognized in the Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) in Eurasia. Ssp. rogachevae is the most recently described subspecies. It breeds in Central Siberia, while its non-breeding region and migration routes are still unclear. We tracked the migration of Eurasian Whimbrels captured at three non-breeding sites (Moreton Bay in east coast of Australia, Roebuck Bay in Northwest Australia and Sungei Buloh Wetland in Singapore) and two migration stopover sites (Chongming Dongtan and Mai Po Wetland in China). We determined the breeding sites and inferred the subspecies of the tagged birds in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) based on the known breeding distribution of each subspecies. Of the 30 tagged birds, 6 and 21 birds bred in the breeding range of ssp. rogachevae and variegatus, respectively; one bred in the presumed transition area between the breeding range of ssp. phaeopus and rogachevae, and two bred in the region between the breeding range of ssp. rogachevae and variegatus. The birds that bred in the ssp. rogachevae breeding range spent their non-breeding season in the northern Sumatra, Singapore, East Java and Northwest Australia and mainly stopped over along China's coasts during migration. None of our birds bred in the exclusive breeding range of the phaeopus subspecies. Previous studies have predicted that rogachevae whimbrels migrate along the Central Asian Flyway and spend the non-breeding season in West India and East Africa. We found that at least some rogachevae whimbrels migrate along the EAAF and spend the non-breeding season in Southeast Asia and Australia. The ssp. phaeopus is at best sparsely distributed in the EAAF in the west region, or possibly does not occur at all.

Keywords: Satellite tracking, Subspecies, Migratory connectivity, Non-breeding area, Numenius phaeopus, Stopover site

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Publication history

Received: 17 August 2021
Accepted: 19 December 2021
Published: 28 February 2022
Issue date: March 2022

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© 2022 The Authors.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank the Chongming Dongtan National Nature Reserve, WWF-Hong Kong, Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG), and the Northwest Australia Expedition 2018 team for their support of the fieldwork, particularly the late Dr Clive Minton. We appreciate Roz Jessop, Michael Dawkins, Prue Wright, Robert Bush, Brad Woodworth, Chi-Yeung Choi, Bingrun Zhu, Weipin Chen, Xuesong Feng, Xiaodan Wang, Mianjuan Ke and volunteers of the Hong Kong Waterbirds Ringing Group for their assistance with the fieldwork. We thank National Parks Board Singapore for providing tracking data and photos of tagged birds for this paper. AWSG acknowledges the Yawuru People via the offices of Nyamba Buru Yawuru Limited for permission to catch birds on the shores of Roebuck Bay, the traditional lands of the Yawuru people. CJH thanks his funders, WWF Netherlands, Spinoza Premium of Netherlands Organization Prize for Scientific Research to Theunis Piersma and MAVA (Foundation Pour La Nature). We thank Camilo Carneiro, Danny Rogers, Gary Allport and another two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the manuscript. This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31830089 and 31772467), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (21DZ1201902), World Wide Fund for Nature Beijing Office (10003881), Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau (G201610), and Scientific Research Fund of Yunnan Provincial Education Department (2022J0847).

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