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THE WINTERING AND MIGRATION OF PALAEARCTIC PASSERINES AT KAMPALA, SOUTHERN UGANDA
Author(s) -
Pearson D. J.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.1972.tb02588.x
Subject(s) - plumage , acrocephalus , geography , spring (device) , ringing , population , ecology , demography , biology , mechanical engineering , filter (signal processing) , sociology , computer science , engineering , computer vision
Summary Palaearctic passerines were observed and trapped over three seasons near Kampala, in southern Uganda. Passage migration and wintering are described. Only 11 species were encountered at all frequently. Three of these were common as passage migrants only, the rest remained in numbers throughout the northern winter. Most migrants reached Kampala during October and November, but the majority of Acrocephalus warblers appeared later. Spring departure commenced at the end of March, and continued throughout April. Autumn passage was in progress from late September to December, but appreciable spring movement was confined to a period of a few weeks only. Ringing revealed that most wintering warblers were highly sedentary, and that a high proportion of surviving birds returned to the same site in successive winters. No fewer than 12–5% of the 220 Acrocephalus warblers ringed during 1966/67 were retrapped during the following season. Wing measurements were recorded for most migrants trapped. Plumage details were noted, and representative specimens of several species were subsequently compared with museum series. It was concluded that most migrant passerines which occurred at Kampala were of eastern origin. Migration times were compared with those recorded for some other areas. The spring movement from southern Uganda to the Middle East tends to be more rapid than the return journey. Some species apparently spend weeks or even months of the autumn in northeast Africa before reaching the equator,