Journal of Ornithology

, Volume 148, Issue 3, pp 293–308 | Cite as

Spatial patterns of white stork (Ciconia ciconia) migratory phenology in the Iberian Peninsula

Original Article
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Abstract

In contrast to the attention attracted by temporal trends of phenology, the spatial patterns of arrivals, departures or stays of trans-Saharan birds are still nowadays largely unknown in most of their European breeding areas. In the case of the white stork (Ciconia ciconia), some studies have attempted to describe its migratory patterns throughout some European countries but, to our knowledge, no one has related these patterns to some kind of explanatory variable which offers an ecologically-based explanation for the heterogeneous phenology observable among populations. Here, arrivals, departures and stays of this species, recorded in hundreds of Spanish localities, were related to a set of environmental, geographical, biological and spatial predictors, and modeled by multiple regression. The best model for arrival dates accounted for up to 34% of variability of data and pointed towards an earlier arrival in those populations located in south-western Iberia and with higher population densities. This last relationship is probably due to the competition for nest-site fidelity maintenance. However, no variable was able to explain properly the blurred spatial pattern recorded for departure dates. Departure decisions are strongly influenced by social behavior in this species and depend on collective decisions influenced by peculiar local environmental conditions of each year rather than macrogeographical gradients. Environmental, geographical or spatial variables also did not capture much of the observed variability in the length of the stays among populations. However, this variable was strongly related to the arrival and departure dates of populations. White storks stay longer in localities with earlier arrivals and, especially, later departures.

Keywords

Autumn departure Length of stay Modeling Spain Spring arrival 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work would not be possible without all the volunteers of the Spanish phenological network. We thank the Instituto Nacional de Meteorología for access to the phenological data and SEO/Birdlife for data of the national white stork census of 2004. Valuable comments of P. Vergara and two anonymous reviewers helped us to improve the first draft of the manuscript. O.G. acknowledges Xavier Ferrer, Lluís Brotons and the Spanish MEC for the financial support of a FPU Doctoral Fellowship (ref. AP2002-1439). J.J.S. was supported by the Spanish MEC (project REN-2001-0611/GLO).

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Copyright information

© Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V. 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • Oscar Gordo
    • 1
    • 2
  • Juan José Sanz
    • 1
  • Jorge M. Lobo
    • 3
  1. 1.Departamento de Ecología EvolutivaMuseo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)MadridSpain
  2. 2.Departament de Biologia Animal (Vertebrats)Universitat de BarcelonaBarcelonaSpain
  3. 3.Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología EvolutivaMuseo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)MadridSpain

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