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Differential migration by age and sex in central European Ospreys Pandion haliaetus

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Abstract

Differential migration reflects various constraints and selective forces on different individuals in a population, and has been explained by several hypotheses. Most previous studies about differential migration focused on only one aspect (e.g. spring timing, autumn timing or wintering area), which could not give a full picture of differential migration of the study population and carry out an overall investigation into the hypotheses. In this study, we analyse the migration patterns of European Ospreys Pandion haliaetus ringed in Germany based on the ring recovery database between 1980 and 2008. The migration routes of the study population form a broad front between south and southwest of the ringing area, and the wintering sites are in West Africa south of the Sahara and around the western Mediterranean. We demonstrate differential migration of the population in both spring and autumn timings as well as in the use of wintering grounds. Adult (third year and older) males return earliest to the breeding area in spring, followed by adult females and then two-year-old birds. In autumn, the adult females leave the breeding area earlier than adult males, while the migration of first-year Ospreys takes place over a wide time-span. Adult males were discovered mainly around the western Mediterranean in winter, closer to the ringing area than adult females and younger birds. We suggest that the selection for prior access to breeding resources on males shapes the patterns of differential migration in Ospreys.

Zusammenfassung

Der differenzierte Zug von Vögeln spiegelt verschiedene Selektionsfaktoren wider, die auf Individuen einer Population unterschiedlich einwirken. Er wurde mit mehreren Hypothesen erklärt, wobei die meisten bisherigen Untersuchungen über differenzierten Zug sich nur auf einen Aspekt (z. B. Frühjahrszug, Herbstzug, Überwinterungsgebiet) konzentrierten. Dadurch konnte kein Gesamtbild des Zuggeschehens einer untersuchten Population und keine umfassende Überprüfung der Hypothesen erreicht werden. Mit unserer Untersuchung analysieren wir das Zugmuster von in Deutschland über die Jahre 1980 bis 2008 nestjung beringten Fischadlern Pandion haliaetus, die in der Wiederfund-Datenbank der Beringungszentrale Hiddensee gespeichert sind. Die Zugwege der untersuchten Population verlaufen ausgehend vom Beringungsgebiet auf breiter Front zwischen südlichen und südwestlichen Richtungen. Die Überwinterungsgebiete liegen im Westen Afrikas südlich der Sahara und im westlichen Mittelmeergebiet. Wir zeigen auf, dass die Fischadler sowohl im zeitlichen Ablauf im Herbst als auch im Frühjahr einem differenzierten Zug unterliegen, genauso wie bei der räumlichen Nutzung des Überwinterungsgebietes. Adulte Männchen (3-jährige und ältere) kehren im Frühjahr zuerst ins Brutgebiet zurück, gefolgt von adulten Weibchen und dann von zweijährigen Vögeln. Im Herbst verlassen adulte Weibchen das Brutgebiet früher als adulte Männchen, wobei sich der Zug der Jungvögel noch über einen längeren Zeitraum erstreckt. Adulte Männchen wurden im Winter überwiegend im westlichen Mittelmeerraum und damit näher zum Brutgebiet gelegen gefunden als adulte Weibchen und jüngere Fischadler. Wir gehen davon aus, dass die Selektion, einen möglichst frühzeitigen Zugang zu den Brutplätzen zu erhalten, vorwiegend auf Männchen wirkt und damit das Muster des differenzierten Zuges bei Fischadlern formt.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. R Strandberg for sharing his expert knowledge which has enriched the manuscript. We thank especially all the volunteer ringers and their teams who have worked hard for many years to make this publication possible: Dr. M. Dornbusch, H. Gabriel, P. Hauff, S. Herold, Dr. P. Kneis, W. Köhler, M. Kuhnert, G. Lohmann, Dr. R. Möckel, P. Reuße, D. Roepke, Ch. Scharnweber and P. Sömmer. We are also grateful to those who reported sightings of ringed Ospreys. The following nest wardens and coordinators made it possible that D. Schmidt could ring many Osprey nestlings: M. Dittrich, B. Ewert, M. Graef, E. Hemke, B. Heuer, H. Lange, O. Manowsky, K. Ridder, G. Röber und D. Ruhle. R. Wahl provided the information about the Ospreys breeding in France. H. Dansberg produced the coded colour-rings and ringing instruments. The Forestry and Nature Conservation authorities, the Hiddensee Bird Ringing Centre, the power companies enviaM, E.ON edis and Vattenfall Europe Transmission and the DB Energie GmbH supported the ringing. Most of the work of D. Schmidt was funded by the Adler Modemärkte Haibach and the Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (DO-G). This study complies with the current laws in Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Rd. Sec. 2, Taipei, 115, Taiwan

    Mei-Ling Bai

  2. NABU-Vogelschutzzentrum Mössingen, Ziegelhütte 21, 72116, Mössingen, Germany

    Daniel Schmidt

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  1. Mei-Ling Bai
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  2. Daniel Schmidt
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Correspondence to Daniel Schmidt.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Bairlein.

This is the ring recovery report no. 4/2011 of the Hiddensee Bird Ringing Centre.

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Bai, ML., Schmidt, D. Differential migration by age and sex in central European Ospreys Pandion haliaetus . J Ornithol 153, 75–84 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0697-y

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