Dryad
Published October 27, 2020 | Version v1
Dataset Open

Diurnal timing of nonmigratory movement by birds: the importance of foraging spatial scales

Authors/Creators

  • 1. University of Maryland, College Park
  • 2. Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
  • 3. Cardiff University
  • 4. University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • 5. Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
  • 6. Reese Institute for Conservation of Natural Resources*
  • 7. HawkWatch International*
  • 8. Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC)*
  • 9. Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas
  • 10. University of Guadalajara
  • 11. Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  • 12. BirdLife Denmark*
  • 13. Biodiversity Research Institute
  • 14. Raptor View Research Institute*
  • 15. Tag-n-Track Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park*
  • 16. University of Montpellier
  • 17. Storch Schweiz*
  • 18. Philipps-University Marburg*
  • 19. Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
  • 20. University of Pisa
  • 21. Environment Science and Solutions S.L.*
  • 22. Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos (FCQ)*
  • 23. University of California, Santa Cruz
  • 24. Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences*
  • 25. Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute*
  • 26. Environmental Management Directorate - Marine Section*
  • 27. United States Geological Survey
  • 28. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
  • 29. University of Alicante
  • 30. University of Valencia
  • 31. MEDRAPTORS (Mediterranean Raptor Migration Network)*
  • 32. Friend's University*
  • 33. Parco Gallipoli Cognato Piccole Dolomiti Lucane*
  • 34. College of William and Mary and Virginia *
  • 35. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
  • 36. Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
  • 37. Philipp University of Marburg
  • 38. Schulz Wildlife Consulting*
  • 39. San Jose State University
  • 40. Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa*
  • 41. Ascension Island Government Conservation Department*
  • 42. Ecology and Environment Department, DHI*
  • 43. Tel Aviv University
  • 44. United States Fish and Wildlife Service
  • 45. Suisun Resource Conservation District*
  • 46. Idaho Army National Guard*
  • 47. College of William and Mary and Virginia*
  • 48. Ornitela UAB*

Description

Timing of activity can reveal an organism's efforts to optimize foraging either by minimizing energy loss through passive movement or by maximizing energetic gain through foraging. Here, we assess whether signals of either of these strategies are detectable in the timing of activity of daily, local movements by birds. We compare the similarities of timing of movement activity among species using six temporal variables: start of activity relative to sunrise, end of activity relative to sunset, relative speed at midday, number of movement bouts, bout duration, and proportion of active daytime hours. We test for the influence of flight mode and foraging habitat on the timing of movement activity across avian guilds. We used 64570 days of GPS movement data collected between 2002 and 2019 for local (non-migratory) movements of 991 birds from 49 species, representing 14 orders. Dissimilarity among daily activity patterns was best explained by flight mode. Terrestrial soaring birds began activity later and stopped activity earlier than pelagic soaring or flapping birds. Broad-scale foraging habitat explained less of the clustering patterns because of divergent timing of active periods of pelagic surface and diving foragers. Among pelagic birds, surface foragers were active throughout the day while diving foragers matched their active hours more closely to daylight hours. Pelagic surface foragers also had the greatest daily foraging distances, which was consistent with their daytime activity patterns. This study demonstrates that flight mode and foraging habitat influence temporal patterns of daily movement activity of birds.

Notes

Mallon et al. 2020. Diurnal timing of nonmigratory movement by birds: the importance of foraging spatial scales. Journal of Avian Biology

The dryad repository contents include the following data:
1. Final dataset used in analysis: mallon2020_trait_data.csv
2. Original hourly data measures of several temporal variables: mallon2020_hr_data.csv
3. Original daily data measures of several temporal variables: mallon2020_day_data.csv
4. Final morphological data used in analysis: mallon2020_morpho_data.csv

Data columns of note:
active.hr = if individual is active or inactive, based on threshold defined in Mallon et al. 2020
mspeed = mean speed during active hours
n.hrs = number of location hours per day
dsunrise.min = first activity, relative to sunrise
dsunset.max = last activity, relative to sunset
midday.speed = hourly speed nearest to solar noon
prop.diel = proportion of active hours between sunrise and sunset
n.periods.activity = number of movement bouts
activity.dur = mean duration of movement bouts
r2n = maximum net squared displacement from the beginning of the day (m)
mean.r2n = mean net squared displacement from the beginning of the day (m)
median.r2n = median net squared displacement from the beginning of the day (m)

The dryad repository contents include the following scripts, for use with R 4.0.2:
1. Code necessary to create mallon2020_trait_data.csv from mallon2020_hr_data.csv and mallon2020_day_data.csv: mallon2020_trait_database.R
2. Code necessary to recreate analyses: mallon2020_results.R
2. Custom functions necessary for mallon2020_results.R: mallon2020_functions.R

Files

mallon2020_day_data.csv

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