Sponsor
A Faculty Enhancement Grant to MTM from Portland State University and National Science Foundation grant IOB-0539370 to MTM supported the research.
Published In
The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2021
Subjects
Bird populations -- United States, Avian biology, Eastern Kingbirds
Abstract
We recovered 12 archival geolocators deployed on Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) breeding in New York (NY; n¼3, 2 with 2 years of data), Nebraska (NE; n¼6, 1 with 2 years of data), and Oregon (OR; n¼3) to describe migratory routes, timing and rates of migration, nonbreeding season distributions, and migratory connectedness. NY fall migrants migrated along the Atlantic coast to Florida, flew either nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico (GoM; 2 of 3 birds) or stopped once along the way (Cuba and Cayman Islands in different years) to land in Yucatan/Central America. Fall birds from NE and OR arrived at the GoM in the region of the border between Texas and Louisiana, and most likely took a land route to Central America. In spring, all NY birds flew nonstop across the GoM, and once in North America, took a more inland route than in fall. Trans-GoM flights were more common among NE and OR birds in spring than fall. Birds migrated faster in spring than fall, and in both seasons, late departure was associated with more rapid migration. Migratory connectivity was low, and all birds from OR, and one bird from NE and NY each, occupied a single region in northwestern Amazonia (southern Colombia, northern Peru, and eastern Ecuador) while in South America. Most kingbirds from NE and NY were intratropical migrants, occupying 2 regions for periods of over 30 d. The latter birds migrated farther south to western Brazil and northern Bolivia, but then moved north to later use the same area in northwestern Amazonia where other birds remained throughout the overwinter period. Northwestern Amazonia thus appears to be a critical area for all Eastern Kingbirds during the nonbreeding season, possibly because a prolonged wet season supports abundant fruit resources.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2021 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1676/19-00113
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37090
Citation Details
Kim, D. H., Redmond, L. J., Fox, J. R., & Murphy, M. T. (2021). Inter-and intracontinental migration by the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 133(2), 202-214.