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Earlier spring staging in Iceland amongst Greenland White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons flavirostris achieved without cost to refuelling rates

  • LIMNOLOGY AND AQUATIC BIRDS
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Abstract

Greenland White-fronted Geese wintering in Ireland and Britain stage for 3 weeks in Iceland in spring before migrating onwards to breeding areas in west Greenland. The geese now depart their wintering quarters 12–15 days earlier than in 1973 because they attain necessary fat stores earlier than in previous years. Icelandic temperatures at critical midway staging areas have shown no significant change since 1973, creating a potential mismatch in food availability along the migratory route. Greenland White-fronted Geese have shifted from consuming below-ground plant storage organs in Iceland in spring to grazing managed hayfields created since the 1950s where fresh grass shoot growth occurs despite sub-zero temperatures, when traditional natural foods are physically inaccessible to staging geese due to frozen substrates. Rates of fat accumulation (measured by field scores of abdominal profiles) and mass change (measured in captured geese) were the same in the springs of 1997, 1998 and 1999 as in that of 2007 when the migration episode was 10 days earlier. Hence, earlier arrival in Iceland in 2007 did not occur at cost to refuelling rates there. The shift to acquiring energy from artificial grasslands has enabled Greenland White-fronted Geese to arrive in Iceland earlier, but has apparently not impaired their ability to accumulate fat reserves required for onwards migration, which occurs at the same rate, only earlier in the spring.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Beckett Foundation, British Ornithologists Union, Canadian Wildlife Service, Dansk Jagtforenings Jubilæumsfund, Japetus Steenstrups Legat, Månsons Rejsefond, Nordisk Forskerutdanningsakademi, Palms Legat, the Peter Scott Trust for Education and Research in Conservation, but especially the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Irish government’s Heritage Service for financial support for the projects through the offices of John Wilson. We thank our respective employers for supporting our participation in this work and gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Alistair Duncan, Ian Francis, Jón Jónsson, Roy King, Kerstin Langenberger, Vinni Madsen, Timme Nyegaard, Anne Würtz Petersen, Nick Picozzi, Arnor Sigfusson, John Turner, John Wilson as well as many staff and students at the university to counting and catching of birds in these seasons. We are very grateful for the help and support of the University of Iceland at Hvanneyri and especially Björn Þorsteinsson, Anna Þórhallsdóttir and family, Sverrir Heiðar Julíusson, Snorri Sigurðson, Rikki Brynjólfsson and Guðmundur Guðmundsson for their personal help and support. Thanks to Ævar Petersen, Guðmundur A. Guðmundsson and Helga Valdemarsson at the Icelandic Museum of Natural History for permissions, loan of equipment and arrangement of logistics, and to Ólafur Einarsson, Johann Óli Hilmarsson and Einar Þorleifson for their support over very many years. Thanks to three anonymous referees and the journal editor for their comments and help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Kalø, Grenåvej 14, 8410, Rønde, Denmark

    Anthony D. Fox & Jens Nyeland

  2. Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Centre, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0H3, Canada

    Hugh Boyd

  3. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gealtacht, Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slobland, Wexford, Ireland

    Alyn J. Walsh

  4. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough, PE1 1JY, UK

    David A. Stroud

  5. Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucester, GL2 7BT, UK

    Ruth L. Cromie

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  1. Anthony D. Fox
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  2. Hugh Boyd
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  3. Alyn J. Walsh
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  4. David A. Stroud
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  5. Jens Nyeland
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  6. Ruth L. Cromie
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Correspondence to Anthony D. Fox.

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Guest editors: F. A. Comín & S. H. Hurlbert / Limnology and Aquatic Birds: Monitoring, Modelling and Management

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Fox, A.D., Boyd, H., Walsh, A.J. et al. Earlier spring staging in Iceland amongst Greenland White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons flavirostris achieved without cost to refuelling rates. Hydrobiologia 697, 103–110 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1174-1

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