Migration strategy and constraint in migration behavior vary among shorebird species with different life histories
Date
2025-01-15
Authors
Clements, Sarah J.
Loghry, Jason P.
Linscott, Jennifer
Ruiz, Jorge
Gunn, Joe
Navedo, Juan G.
Senner, Nathan
Ballard, Bart
Weegman, Mitch
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Wiley, Ecological Society of America
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Article
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Abstract
Migration strategy is a key behavioral characteristic guiding how migratory species time their annual cycles and use habitat. Understanding variation in migration strategy within and among species and individuals can be useful for understanding how birds navigate energetic trade-offs and designing or modifying conservation plans meant to benefit multiple species and life histories. We compared migration strategies among three migratory shorebird species with variable life history traits and short, medium, and long migration distances, respectively: American avocets (Recurvirostra americana), black-bellied plovers (Pluvialis squatarola), and Hudsonian godwits (Limosa haemastica). Avocets (short distance) exhibited the most within-species variation in migration duration, proportion of migration time spent at stopovers, and stopover duration. Plovers (medium distance) and godwits (long distance) showed less variation in these metrics, but godwits showed the most variation in the number of stopovers used. There were significant differences among species in migration distance, number of stopovers used, proportion of time stopped over, departure and arrival dates, and migration duration, but not mean stopover duration. We also found that avocets spent more time stopped over relative to migration distance than plovers or godwits, indicating that avocets showed the most energy-minimizing strategy of the three species. Our findings set the stage for future work assessing the effects of climate change and land use on characteristics associated with different migration strategies for additional migratory species.
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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2025 The Author(s). Ecosphere published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.
Keywords
migratory shorebird, life history traits, migration distances, climate change, land use
Citation
Clements, S. J., Loghry, J. P., Linscott, J. A., Ruiz, J., Gunn, J. C., Navedo, J. G., Senner, N. R., Ballard, B. M., & Weegman, M. D. (2025). Migration strategy and constraint in migration behavior vary among shorebird species with different life histories. Ecosphere, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70161
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DOI
10.1002/ecs2.70161