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Compensation for lateral drift due to crosswind in migrating European Bee-eaters

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Abstract

Billions of seasonally migrating birds and insects use two principal modes of flight, i.e., flapping and soaring–gliding. Flight mode is known to have strong effects on energy expenditure and speed of migration, yet its influence on the migratory track has rarely been investigated. Using radio telemetry, we studied the effects of crosswind on European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) during their spring migration with respect to different flight modes. Flapping, soaring–gliding, and mixed flight in which the birds flapped during gliding were distinguished by radio signals while the birds were flying en route over southern Israel. The regional atmospheric modeling system was applied in high spatial (1 km × 1 km) and temporal (5 min) resolution to estimate winds encountered aloft. We analyzed data from 11 birds that flew over a total distance of 810 km and found that lateral drift due to side wind did not differ among birds engaged in different flight modes. Overall, there was almost no effect of crosswind speed on bird lateral speed, as the regression slope was 0.31 (indicting mild lateral drift) and the regression’s R 2 was 0.01. Therefore, we conclude that migrating bee-eaters compensated for crosswind during their spring migration and that this response was not dependent on bird flight mode.

Zusammenfassung

Ziehende Bienenfresser kompensieren die durch Seitenwinde verursachte seitliche Abdrift

Milliarden saisonal migrierender Vögel und Insekten benutzen zwei unterschiedliche Flugtechniken, den Ruderflug und den Segel- und Gleitflug. Es ist bekannt, dass die Flugtechnik die Energiekosten und die Geschwindigkeit der Zuges stark beeinflusst. Der Einfluss der Flugtechnik auf die Migrationsroute wurde bisher jedoch kaum untersucht. Mittels Radiotelemetrie haben wir den Einfluss von Seitenwinden auf den Frühjahrszug von Bienenfressern (Merops apiaster) untersucht. Während die Vögel über Südisrael flogen, konnten Ruderflug, Segel- und Gleitflug und Flügelschlag während des Gleitfluges aufgrund der Funksignale unterschieden werden. Das Regional Atmospheric Modeling System wurde mit einer hohen räumlichen (250 m × 250 m) und zeitlichen (5 Minuten) Auflösung angewandt um die auftretenden Winde zu berechnen. Die Daten von elf Vögeln, die eine Gesamtstrecke von 810 km geflogen sind, wurden von uns analysiert. Die seitliche Abdrift durch Seitenwinde unterschied sich nicht zwischen den unterschiedlichen Flugtechniken. Es gab insgesamt fast keinen Effekt der Geschwindigkeit der Seitenwinde auf die Geschwindigkeit der seitlichen Abdrift der Vögel. Die Steigung der Regressionsgerade war 0,31 (was nur geringe seitliche Abdrift anzeigt) und R 2 der Regression war 0,01. Daraus schließen wir, dass die migrierenden Bienenfresser während ihres Frühjahrszugs Seitenwinde kompensiert haben und dass die Flugtechnik keinen Einfluss auf diese Kompensation hatte.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Reuven Yosef, Tzadok Tzemah, William W. Cochran, Itzik Simhayof, Ofir Altstein, David Troupin, Yitzhak Mahrer, Adi Ben-Nun, Erica Kim, and members of the tracking teams and Movement Ecology Laboratory for their assistance. We thank the Israeli Meteorological Service and especially Amos Porat for providing the meteorological measurements and related information. We thank Thomas Alerstam for his constructive comments on a previous version of the manuscript. This work was supported by the US–Israel Binational Science Foundation (grant no. 229/2002 & 124/2004), the Ring Foundation for Environmental Research, and the Robert Szold Fund for Applied Science. N.S. was supported by two Rieger–JNF fellowships and a Fulbright doctoral dissertation travel fellowship.

Conflict of interest

None.

Ethical standard

Bird trapping permits were obtained from the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority (permits 2005/22055, 2006/25555), and the experimental procedure was approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (permit NS–06–07–2).

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  1. Nir Sapir

    Present address: National Natural History Collections, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, 91904, Giv’at Ram, Jerusalem, Israel

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Movement Ecology Laboratory, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra campus, 91904, Giv’at Ram, Jerusalem, Israel

    Nir Sapir, Nir Horvitz & Ran Nathan

  2. Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, ‘Vogelwarte Radolfzell’ Schlossallee 2, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany

    Martin Wikelski

  3. Department of Biology, Konstanz University, 78315, Constance, Germany

    Martin Wikelski

  4. Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149-1098, USA

    Roni Avissar

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  1. Nir Sapir
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Correspondence to Nir Sapir.

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Sapir, N., Horvitz, N., Wikelski, M. et al. Compensation for lateral drift due to crosswind in migrating European Bee-eaters. J Ornithol 155, 745–753 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-014-1060-x

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