[en] Understanding the occurrence of vagrant individuals away from their usual distribution range can shed light on animal navigation systems. In autumn, migratory Nearctic landbirds often occur as far as Western Europe, and while the link between these occurrences and wind conditions over the Atlantic Ocean is largely established, the drivers and natal origins of these transatlantic vagrants remain elusive. We conducted feather hydrogen isotopic (δ2Hf) analyses from 72 Nearctic individuals representing 26 landbird species captured in the Azores (Portugal), Iceland and France over the last century to infer their likely origins. While potential origins of several individuals came from northeastern Nearctic populations (e.g., Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Parula), we also found that some individuals likely originated from northwestern (e.g., American Redstart, Gray-cheeked Thrush) or southern (Yellow-billed Cuckoo) populations. Our results confirm that northeastern populations migrating along the coast or undertaking over-water flights are more likely to be displaced. However, they also show that even northwestern populations migrating southeast towards the eastern coast of North America have the potential to be displaced across the Atlantic Ocean. Further research is needed to fully understand the drivers of these transatlantic vagrancy events and to determine whether wind is the only factor that can push migratory individuals off their intended course. Overall, this study sheds light on the broad geographic origins of transoceanic vagrants and the potential implications for the colonization of new regions.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy Zoology Life sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Dufour, Paul; Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, Arles, France. paul.dufour80@gmail.com ; CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France. paul.dufour80@gmail.com ; Bird Migration Unit, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland. paul.dufour80@gmail.com
Kardynal, Kevin J; Environment and Climate Change Canada, Science and Technology Branch, Saskatoon, Canada
Hobson, Keith A; Department of Biology and Environment and Climate Change Canada, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Monticelli, David ; Forest is Life, Terra Teaching and Research Centre, Université de Liège-Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030, Gembloux, Belgium
Kolbeinsson, Yann; Northeast Iceland Nature Research Centre, Húsavík, Iceland
Alfrey, Peter; Little Oak Group, Sidlesham, West Sussex, England, UK
It is not usual to include one of the co-authors within the acknowledgements section, but we consider imperative to dedicate this work to Dr. Keith Hobson, who passed away during the publication process of this paper. We are deeply grateful for his pioneering and major contributions in the domain of ornithology and bird migration, and of course the valuable help he provided in the conceptualization and execution of this work. We thank Laurent Simon from UMR LEHNA for his help for the analyses of three samples; Alison Johnston from the University of St Andrews for first guidance into the eBird abundance predictive data; Pierre-Andr\u00E9 Crochet for fruitful discussions during various stages of the project development;\u00A0curators of the Paris and Le Havre Museum of Natural History; the Icelandic Institute of Nature Research (formerly known as the Icelandic Institute of Natural History) for granting us access to their collection; persons who found these vagrants and who transported birds found dead to collections; Mathieu Bally, Adrian Jordi, Vincent Legrand for their photos, all taken in Europe, which were used to illustrate some figures; K. Courtney and G. Baudrin for preparing samples for stable isotope analysis and to G. Koehler for conducting the stable isotope analysis.
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