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Behavior and Ethology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

Age And Sex Differences In Stopover Behaviours And Flight Performance In Black-Throated Blue Warblers, Patricia Rokitnicki Apr 2023

Age And Sex Differences In Stopover Behaviours And Flight Performance In Black-Throated Blue Warblers, Patricia Rokitnicki

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Differential migration by sex and age is commonly observed in passerines. Previous studies have found differences in wing morphology between sex and age classes which could affect their movement ecology. In this thesis, I examine whether migratory stopover duration and nocturnal flight speeds differed between age and sex classes in 89 Black-throated Blue Warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) using movement data obtained by Motus Wildlife Tracking System and meteorological data from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis II project. Second year birds (hatched during the previous breeding season) had longer stopovers but similar post-departure movements to after second year birds (hatched before the last breeding …


Whooping Crane Stay Length In Relation To Stopover Site Characteristics, Andrew J. Caven, Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Mary J. Harner, Greg D. Wright, David M. Baasch, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Kristine L. Metzger, Matthew R. Rabbe,, Anne E. Lacy Jan 2022

Whooping Crane Stay Length In Relation To Stopover Site Characteristics, Andrew J. Caven, Aaron T. Pearse, David A. Brandt, Mary J. Harner, Greg D. Wright, David M. Baasch, Emma M. Brinley Buckley, Kristine L. Metzger, Matthew R. Rabbe,, Anne E. Lacy

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

Whooping crane (Grus americana) migratory stopovers can vary in length from hours to more than a month. Stopover sites provide food resources and safety essential for the completion of migration. Factors such as weather, climate, demographics of migrating groups, and physiological condition of migrants influence migratory movements of cranes (Gruidae) to varying degrees. However, little research has examined the relationship between habitat characteristics and stopover stay length in cranes. Site quality may relate to stay length with longer stays that allow individuals to improve body condition, or with shorter stays because of increased foraging efficiency. We examined this …


American Woodcock Migration Ecology At An Important Stopover, Cape May, New Jersey, Brian B. Allen Aug 2017

American Woodcock Migration Ecology At An Important Stopover, Cape May, New Jersey, Brian B. Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Migration poses risks and energetic demands to individuals that may be greater than those experienced during non-migratory periods. Most migratory birds require stopover sites to rest and recuperate energy spent during migratory flights, and stopover locations can alleviate risks and provide supplemental energy en route to the animal’s end destination. An individual’s stopover duration is contingent first on energy acquisition that is constrained by resource availability, and secondarily on environmental conditions such as weather that may facilitate or constrain continued migration. From 2010 to 2013 I conducted a radio-telemetry study of a short-distance migrant, the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), on …


Behavioural Mechanisms Of Protandrous Spring Migration In A Nearctic-Neotropical Songbird, Jessica E. Deakin Aug 2017

Behavioural Mechanisms Of Protandrous Spring Migration In A Nearctic-Neotropical Songbird, Jessica E. Deakin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Most seasonally migrating songbirds have a protandrous migration pattern, meaning that males arrive to the breeding grounds before females. The proximate mechanisms that underlie this pattern are largely unknown for most species. In this thesis, I evaluate the behavioural mechanisms of protandry in the black-throated blue warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) using onset of migratory restlessness as a proxy for departure from the wintering grounds, migratory restlessness intensity as a proxy for motivation to fly, and stopover duration of radio-tagged birds. The onset of migratory restlessness and stopover duration was similar in both sexes. Males displayed higher intensity wing whirring than …


Stopover Ecology Of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus Colubris) During Autumn Migration, Theodore Joseph Zenzal Jr May 2016

Stopover Ecology Of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus Colubris) During Autumn Migration, Theodore Joseph Zenzal Jr

Dissertations

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is one of the smallest Nearctic-Neotropical migrants and the only species of hummingbird that breeds in Eastern North America, yet few studies have investigated the biology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds when they stopover during migration. Given their small size, high metabolism, aggression, and specialized diet, hummingbirds may represent a migrant that operates on the physiological edge. Therefore it is important to understand the factors that influence their stopover as well as the decision to resume migration. Towards this end, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were captured during autumn migration along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico to …


Winter And Migratory Habitat Use Of Six Eastern Greater Sandhill Cranes, Hillary L. Thompson, Anne E. Lacy Jan 2016

Winter And Migratory Habitat Use Of Six Eastern Greater Sandhill Cranes, Hillary L. Thompson, Anne E. Lacy

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

To better understand non-breeding ecology of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis tabida), we harnessed 6 satellite GPS transmitters to adult cranes from 1 central Wisconsin breeding area. Using location data from these transmitters, we investigated non-breeding movements, including the routes and timing of migration. By combining satellite GPS data with a national land cover dataset, we also described habitat use on stopovers and wintering areas. Sandhill cranes tended to use larger home ranges on long stopovers (>3 days) than on short stopovers (3 days or less). The durations of northward migrations were longer and had more stopovers than …


Stopover Decisions Of Migratory Shorebirds: An Assessment Of Habitat Use, Food Availability, Behavior And Phenology, Ryan Stutzman Nov 2012

Stopover Decisions Of Migratory Shorebirds: An Assessment Of Habitat Use, Food Availability, Behavior And Phenology, Ryan Stutzman

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Habitat loss and alteration from land use change, species invasion, and more recently, climate change has reduced biodiversity and ecosystem function worldwide. Habitat decisions have important implications to individual fitness as well as population dynamics and community structure. Resource limitation, predation, competition, and unfavorable abiotic conditions all have the potential to influence survival and future reproductive potential. Understanding how changes to ecosystem structure and function impact species and populations of conservation concern is essential for conservation delivery to be effective. Similar to many migratory species, shorebird populations are declining worldwide and declines may be related to the loss of important …


Whooping Crane Migrational Habitat Use Of The Platte River, Nebraska, 2001-2006, Shay Howlin, Clayton Derby, Dale Strickland Jan 2010

Whooping Crane Migrational Habitat Use Of The Platte River, Nebraska, 2001-2006, Shay Howlin, Clayton Derby, Dale Strickland

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

The Platte River Endangered Species Partnership monitored whooping crane (Grus americana) habitat use along the Platte River between Chapman and Lexington, Nebraska during 11 migration seasons from 2001 to 2006. Daily aerial surveys took place in the morning from 21 March to 29 April in the spring and from 9 October to 10 November in the fall. Decoy detection trials were conducted during each of the 11 survey seasons to calculate actual sample inclusion probabilities for crane groups detected during monitoring flights. The detectability model found significant differences in detectability among strata (upland or channel), contractor, and altitude …