TY - JOUR
T1 - Trans-equatorial migration routes, staging sites and wintering areas of a high-Arctic avian predator
T2 - the long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudus)
AU - Gilg, Olivier
AU - Moe, Børge
AU - Hanssen, Sveinn Are
AU - Schmidt, Niels Martin
AU - Sittler, Benoît
AU - Hansen, Jannik
AU - Reneerkens, Jeroen
AU - Sabard, Brigitte
AU - Chastel, Olivier
AU - Moreau, Jérôme
AU - Phillips, Richard A
AU - Oudman, Thomas
AU - Biersma, Elisabeth M
AU - Fenstad, Anette A
AU - Lang, Johannes
AU - Bollache, Loïc
PY - 2013/5/21
Y1 - 2013/5/21
N2 - The Long-tailed Skua, a small (<300 g) Arctic-breeding predator and seabird, is a functionally very important component of the Arctic vertebrate communities in summer, but little is known about its migration and winter distribution. We used light-level geolocators to track the annual movements of eight adult birds breeding in north-east Greenland (n = 3) and Svalbard (n = 5). All birds wintered in the Southern Hemisphere (mean arrival-departure dates on wintering grounds: 24 October-21 March): five along the south-west coast of Africa (0-40°S, 0-15°E), in the productive Benguela upwelling, and three further south (30-40°S, 0-50°E), in an area extending into the south-west Indian Ocean. Different migratory routes and rates of travel were documented during post-breeding (345 km d-1 in late August-early September) and spring migrations (235 km d-1 in late April) when most birds used a more westerly flyway. Among the different staging areas, a large region off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland appears to be the most important. It was used in autumn by all but one of the tracked birds (from a few days to three weeks) and in spring by five out of eight birds (from one to more than six weeks). Two other staging sites, off the Iberian coast and near the Azores, were used by two birds in spring for five to six weeks. Over one year, individuals travelled between 43,900 and 54,200 km (36,600-45,700 when excluding staging periods) and went as far as 10,500-13,700 km (mean 12,800 km) from their breeding sites. This study has revealed important marine areas in both the south and north Atlantic Ocean. Sustainable management of these ocean basins will benefit Long-tailed Skuas as well as other trans-equatorial migrants from the Arctic.
AB - The Long-tailed Skua, a small (<300 g) Arctic-breeding predator and seabird, is a functionally very important component of the Arctic vertebrate communities in summer, but little is known about its migration and winter distribution. We used light-level geolocators to track the annual movements of eight adult birds breeding in north-east Greenland (n = 3) and Svalbard (n = 5). All birds wintered in the Southern Hemisphere (mean arrival-departure dates on wintering grounds: 24 October-21 March): five along the south-west coast of Africa (0-40°S, 0-15°E), in the productive Benguela upwelling, and three further south (30-40°S, 0-50°E), in an area extending into the south-west Indian Ocean. Different migratory routes and rates of travel were documented during post-breeding (345 km d-1 in late August-early September) and spring migrations (235 km d-1 in late April) when most birds used a more westerly flyway. Among the different staging areas, a large region off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland appears to be the most important. It was used in autumn by all but one of the tracked birds (from a few days to three weeks) and in spring by five out of eight birds (from one to more than six weeks). Two other staging sites, off the Iberian coast and near the Azores, were used by two birds in spring for five to six weeks. Over one year, individuals travelled between 43,900 and 54,200 km (36,600-45,700 when excluding staging periods) and went as far as 10,500-13,700 km (mean 12,800 km) from their breeding sites. This study has revealed important marine areas in both the south and north Atlantic Ocean. Sustainable management of these ocean basins will benefit Long-tailed Skuas as well as other trans-equatorial migrants from the Arctic.
KW - Animal Migration/physiology
KW - Animals
KW - Arctic Regions
KW - Birds/physiology
KW - Breeding
KW - Greenland
KW - Predatory Behavior/physiology
KW - Seasons
KW - Svalbard
KW - Time Factors
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0064614
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0064614
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 23705000
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 8
JO - PLoS Computational Biology
JF - PLoS Computational Biology
IS - 5
M1 - e64614
ER -
