Non‐random distribution of ring recoveries from trans‐Saharan migrants indicates species‐specific stopover areas

Many long‐distance migrant birds regularly have to pass ecological barriers, like the Saharan desert, where fuelling is very difficult, and large fuel loads have to be stored in advance. In this paper, we have investigated how seven species of birds are distributed in autumn close to the Saharan desert in the eastern Mediterranean area by using ring recoveries from northern Europe. The result clearly shows that the species included are not randomly distributed at this point, about 3,000 km from the breeding area. Birds from rather large breeding areas were shown to converge in confined areas, which in several cases completely differ between species. This means that birds of the same species have to follow different migratory directions depending on the location of their starting point. The observed pattern support earlier findings indicating that birds, in combination with a clock‐and‐compass orientation procedure, must use some external cues in order to find confined species‐specific areas. The possibility for birds to use information from the Earth's magnetic field as an external cue in this area is discussed.