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11 August 2017
Springtime migratory restlessness and departure orientation of Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) in the south compared to the north Yellow Sea
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The motivation of birds to proceed with migration is associated with both endogenous and exogenous factors. According to their migratory situation and to the characteristics of stopover sites, birds might exhibit migratory motivation differently among sites. Although migratory motivation of migrating birds has been well studied in many species, the investigation of the same species in different migratory situations and at different stopover sites is still limited. We predicted that birds at different stopover sites could differ in migratory disposition, including expression of migratory restlessness and responses to environmental cues.
Here we compared migration motivation and orientation of Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) at two stopover sites, Chongming Dongtan in the south Yellow Sea, which is a temporary rest site, and Yalujiang Estuary Wetland in the north Yellow Sea, which is a critical refuelling site, during northward migration. Modified Emlen funnels, with thermal paper inside to record scratches of the birds, were used to detect activity (intensity and direction) of birds. Environmental conditions, including wind direction and speed, cloud cover, tide condition, times of the day (before and after sunset) were recorded during experiments. Generalized linear models were used to detect the effects of endogenous and exogenous factors on the migratory motivation of the birds.
In the south Yellow Sea, the migratory activity intensity of Great Knots was positively related to wind assistance. In the north Yellow Sea, where birds exhibited higher intensity of migratory activity than in the south, the intensity increased and the motivation to initiate migration grew stronger as the season advanced. The Great Knots exhibited wind-related orientation behaviour in the funnels at both sites.
The results suggest that the intensity of migratory motivation differed between the two sites. Departure decisions of Great Knots appear to be affected mainly by external factors at the temporary rest site in the south Yellow Sea but possibly by endogenous factors at the final pre-breeding refuelling site in the north Yellow Sea.
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Springtime migratory restlessness and departure orientation of Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) in the south compared to the north Yellow Sea
)
Abstract
The motivation of birds to proceed with migration is associated with both endogenous and exogenous factors. According to their migratory situation and to the characteristics of stopover sites, birds might exhibit migratory motivation differently among sites. Although migratory motivation of migrating birds has been well studied in many species, the investigation of the same species in different migratory situations and at different stopover sites is still limited. We predicted that birds at different stopover sites could differ in migratory disposition, including expression of migratory restlessness and responses to environmental cues.
Here we compared migration motivation and orientation of Great Knots (Calidris tenuirostris) at two stopover sites, Chongming Dongtan in the south Yellow Sea, which is a temporary rest site, and Yalujiang Estuary Wetland in the north Yellow Sea, which is a critical refuelling site, during northward migration. Modified Emlen funnels, with thermal paper inside to record scratches of the birds, were used to detect activity (intensity and direction) of birds. Environmental conditions, including wind direction and speed, cloud cover, tide condition, times of the day (before and after sunset) were recorded during experiments. Generalized linear models were used to detect the effects of endogenous and exogenous factors on the migratory motivation of the birds.
In the south Yellow Sea, the migratory activity intensity of Great Knots was positively related to wind assistance. In the north Yellow Sea, where birds exhibited higher intensity of migratory activity than in the south, the intensity increased and the motivation to initiate migration grew stronger as the season advanced. The Great Knots exhibited wind-related orientation behaviour in the funnels at both sites.
The results suggest that the intensity of migratory motivation differed between the two sites. Departure decisions of Great Knots appear to be affected mainly by external factors at the temporary rest site in the south Yellow Sea but possibly by endogenous factors at the final pre-breeding refuelling site in the north Yellow Sea.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the Chongming Dongtan Nature Reserve and the Yalu Estuarine Wetland Nature Reserve for their support for our fieldwork. We thank Ran Feng, Xuan Zhang, and Jing Qian for helping with the orientation experiments, and Chi-Yeung Choi, Qingquan Bai, David Melville, Hebo Peng, Qiang Ma, Wenjie Xue, Wei Wu, Xuesong Feng, Hongxi Zang, Weiguo Jin, and Shifu Guo for their assistance in the field. We thank Xiao Xie for helping with data analysis. The writing of the manuscript was completed at Lund University with the help from members of the Animal Navigation Lab and the Centre for Animal Movement Research (both headed by S. Åkesson). This study was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB430404), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31071939 and 31572280), and the State Scholarship Fund of China (201206100060). S. Åkesson is supported by a Project Grant (621-2010-5584) from the Swedish Research Council and a Linnaeus grant to the Centre for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove) from the Swedish Research Council (349-2007-8690) and Lund University.
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