Determining fine-scale migratory connectivity and habitat selection for a migratory songbird by using new GPS technology

Fraser, Kevin C.; Shave, A.; Savage, A.; Ritchie, A.; Bell, K.; Siegrist, J.; Ray, J. D.; Applegate, K.; Pearman, M.

doi:10.1111/jav.01091

Title: Determining fine-scale migratory connectivity and habitat selection for a migratory songbird by using new GPS technology

Journal Article · Wed Jul 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Avian Biology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.01091· OSTI ID:1410335

Fraser, Kevin C. ^[1]; Shave, A. ^[1]; Savage, A. ^[2]; Ritchie, A. ^[1]; Bell, K. ^[1]; Siegrist, J. ^[3]; Ray, J. D. ^[4]; Applegate, K. ^[5]; Pearman, M. ^[6]

Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB (Canada)
Disney's Animal Programs, Lake Buena Vista, FL (United States)
Purple Martin Conservation Association, Erie, PA (United States)
Pantex Plant, Amarillo, TX (United States)
Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Mille Lacs, MN (United States)
Ellis Bird Farm, Lacombe, AB (Canada)

Migratory aerial insectivores are among the fastest declining avian group, but our understanding of these trends has been limited by poor knowledge of migratory connectivity and the identification of critical habitat across the vast distances they travel annually. Using new, archival GPS loggers, we tracked individual purple martins (Progne subis) from breeding colonies across North America to determine precise (<10m) locations of migratory and overwintering roost locations in South America and to test hypotheses for fine-scale migratory connectivity and habitat use. We discovered weak migratory connectivity at the roost scale, and extensive, fine-scale mixing of birds in the Amazon from distant (>2000 km) breeding sites, with some individuals sharing the same roosting trees. Despite vast tracts of contiguous forest in this region, birds occupied a much more limited habitat, with most (56%) roosts occurring on small habitat islands that were strongly associated with water. Only 17% of these roosts were in current protected areas. As a result, these data reflect a critical advance in our ability to remotely determine precise migratory connectivity and habitat selection across vast spatial scales, enhancing our understanding of population dynamics and enabling more effective conservation of species at risk.

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Research Organization:: Pantex Plant (PTX), Amarillo, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0001942

OSTI ID:: 1410335

Report Number(s):: PX-2209

Journal Information:: Journal of Avian Biology, Vol. 48, Issue 3; ISSN 0908-8857

Publisher:: Journal of Avian BiologyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 31 works

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Range‐wide populations of a long‐distance migratory songbird converge during stopover in the tropics Gómez, Camila; Guerrero, Sara L.; FitzGerald, Alyssa M. Ecological Monographs, Vol. 89, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1349	journal	January 2019
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Data from: Determining fine-scale migratory connectivity and habitat selection for a migratory songbird by using new GPS technology Fraser, K. C.; Shave, A.; Savage, A. https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.5q5gn84d The current record is supplemented by this dataset	dataset	January 2016
Migratory connectivity of purple martins (data from Fraser et al. 2016)-reference-data Fraser, Kevin C.; Shave, Amanda; Savage, Anne https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.5q5gn84d/2 The current record is supplemented by this dataset	dataset	January 2016