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Persistent bimodal activity patterns in wild and captive black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa under different environmental conditions

A role for circadian rhythm?

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Abstract

There is a large literature dealing with daily foraging routines of wild birds during the non-breeding season. While different laboratory studies have showed that some bird activity patterns are a persistent property of the circadian system, most of field studies preclude the potential role of an endogenous circadian rhythm in controlling bird’s foraging routines. In this study we compared the patterns of diurnal foraging activity and intake rates of migrating black-tailed godwits, Limosa limosa (radio-tagged and non-tagged individuals) at two stopover sites (habitats) with different environmental characteristics, aiming at identifying proximate factors of bird activity routines. To gain insights into the role of food availability in control of such foraging routines, we also estimated foraging activity patterns in captive godwits subjected to constant food availability. Captive and wild black-tailed godwits showed a persistent bimodal activity pattern through daylight period. Food availability had a significant effect on the intake rates, but had a subtler effect on foraging and intake rate rhythms. Temperature and wind speed (combined in a weather index) showed non-significant effects on both rhythms. Although we could not discard a role for natural diurnal changes in light intensity, an important timing cue, our findings support the idea that an endogenous circadian rhythm could be an important proximate factor regulating foraging activity and food items taken per unit time of wild black-tailed godwits during migration.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Noelia Albano, José M. Abad-Gómez, Auxiliadora Villegas, Fátima Sanz, and Macarena Castro for their most useful help during capture, tracking activities, and counts of foraging activity. Guillermo Fernandez and Will Creswell provided useful comments on a first draft of the manuscript. Project PRI 2PR03A010 (Junta de Extremadura), and a grant to F. Santiago-Quesada from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science provided financial support for this study.

Ethical standards

Black-tailed godwit captures, ringing and tagging procedures and the experiment in captivity were performed under licence CN04/1224 of Junta Extremadura, in the frame of the project PRI 2PR03A010 and following general ethical guidelines for animal welfare and nature conservation. Captive birds were released at the capture site once experiment was completed (3 weeks after capture), coinciding with the peak of migration in the study site (mid February; Masero et al. 2011).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Conservation Biology Research Group, Área de Zoología, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de Elvas s/n, 06071, Badajoz, Spain

    Francisco Santiago-Quesada, José A. Masero & Juan M. Sánchez-Guzmán

  2. Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Avenida Joel Montes Camarena s/n, Apdo. 811, C.P. 82040, Mazatlán, México

    Francisco Santiago-Quesada

  3. School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, 6009, Crawley, Australia

    Sora M. Estrella

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  1. Francisco Santiago-Quesada
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Correspondence to Francisco Santiago-Quesada.

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Communicated by W. Wiltschko

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Santiago-Quesada, F., Masero, J.A., Estrella, S.M. et al. Persistent bimodal activity patterns in wild and captive black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa under different environmental conditions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 397–405 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1285-0

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