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- Title
Rare case of an adult male Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus over-summering in West Africa, as revealed by GPS tracking.
- Authors
Sørensen, Iben; Schlaich, Almut; Klaassen, Raymond; Heldbjerg, Henning; Koks, Ben
- Abstract
Over-summering within or near the African wintering range by immature, non-breeding individuals occurs regularly in several species of long-distance migratory raptors, yet the extent of over-summering in Africa by adult birds remains unclear. In this study, we describe a case of an adult Montagu's Harrier over-summering in Africa, as revealed by GPS tracking. By relating detailed knowledge of the bird's movements to remotely sensed environmental data (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI), we show that over-summering in this case was likely related to an exceptionally difficult breeding season the previous year rather than an effect of adverse weather conditions encountered during the winter or a failed attempt to migrate. Various factors are discussed as potential driving forces behind the bird's intra-African movements. Finally, we relate the documented case to a large number of North European Montagu's Harriers studied by telemetry and show that over-summering in Africa by adult individuals is indeed a rare event.
- Subjects
GLOBAL Positioning System; REMOTE sensing; BIRD migration; MIGRATORY birds; MONTAGU'S harrier
- Publication
Journal of Ornithology, 2017, Vol 158, Issue 3, p753
- ISSN
2193-7192
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10336-017-1445-8