Evolution of chain migration in an aerial insectivorous bird, the common swift Apus apus
Creators
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Akesson, Susanne1
- Atkinson, Phil2
- Bermejo, Ana3
- de la Puente, Javier4
- Ferri, Mauro5
- Hewson, Chris2
- Holmgren, Jan1
- Kaiser, Erich1
- Kearsley, Lyndon1
- Klaassen, Raymond6
- Kolunen, Heikki1
- Matsson, Gittan1
- Minelli, Fausto5
- Norevik, Gabriel1
- Pietiäinen, Hannu7
- Singh, Navinder J8
- Spina, Fernando9
- Viktora, Lukas10
- Hedenstrom, Anders1
- 1. Lund University
- 2. British Trust for Ornithology
- 3. Sociedad Española de Nefrología
- 4. Sociedad Española de Ornitología*
- 5. Associazione Ornitologi Emilia Romagna*
- 6. University of Groningen
- 7. University of Helsinki
- 8. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- 9. Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
- 10. Czech Society for Ornithology
Description
Spectacular long-distance migration has evolved repeatedly in animals enabling exploration of resources separated in time and space. In birds, these patterns are largely driven by seasonality, cost of migration, and asymmetries in competition leading most often to leap-frog migration, where northern breeding populations winter furthest to the south. Here we show that the highly aerial common swift Apus apus, spending the non-breeding period on the wing, instead exhibits a rarely-found chain migration pattern, where the most southern breeding populations in Europe migrate to wintering areas furthest to the south in Africa, while the northern populations winter to the north. The swifts concentrated in three major areas in sub-Saharan Africa during the non-breeding period, with substantial overlap for nearby breeding populations. We found that the southern breeding swifts were larger, raised more young, and arrived to the wintering areas with higher seasonal variation in greenness (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) earlier than the northern breeding swifts. This unusual chain migration pattern in common swifts is largely driven by differential annual timing and we suggest it evolves by prior occupancy and dominance by size in the breeding quarters and by prior occupancy combined with diffuse competition in the winter.
Notes
Funding provided by: Vetenskapsrådet
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004359
Award Number: 621-2007-5930
Funding provided by: Vetenskapsrådet
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004359
Award Number: 621-2010-5584
Funding provided by: Vetenskapsrådet
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004359
Award Number: 621-2013-4361
Funding provided by: Vetenskapsrådet
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004359
Award Number: 349-2007-8690
Funding provided by: Carl Tryggers Stiftelse för Vetenskaplig Forskning
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002805
Award Number: CTS 12:563
Funding provided by: Belgian Ornithological Research Association*
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Funding provided by: Fundación Iberdrola España
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100015942
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Funding provided by: The Government of the Basque Country*
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Funding provided by: British Trust for Ornithology*
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Funding provided by: Belgian Ornithological Research Association
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Funding provided by: The Government of the Basque Country
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Funding provided by: British Trust for Ornithology
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