Open AccessBirds use individually consistent temperature cues to time their migration departure
Author(s) -
Robert J. Burnside,
Daniel Salliss,
Nigel Collar,
Paul M. Dolman
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2026378118
Subject(s) - satellite tracking , sensory cue , biology , population , variation (astronomy) , ecology , geography , demography , satellite , neuroscience , sociology , physics , astrophysics , engineering , aerospace engineering
Significance Whether migratory populations are preadapted or constrained in responding to global climate change largely depends on which cues individuals use when deciding to start their migration. The identity of these cues is revealed by whether response thresholds are consistent within, but differ between, individuals (“repeatability”). By satellite tracking 48 individuals across multiple migrations, we show that 1) Asian houbara used the environmental cue of local temperature, which was correlated between wintering and breeding grounds, to time their spring migration departure; 2) departure responses to temperature varied between individuals but were individually repeatable; and 3) individuals’ use of temperature as a cue allowed for adaptive population-level change in migration timing, relative to annual variation in spring temperatures.