Costs of migration in free-flying songbirds

Martin Wikelski (), Elisa M. Tarlow, Arlo Raim, Robert H. Diehl, Ronald P. Larkin and G. Henk Visser
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Martin Wikelski: Princeton University
Elisa M. Tarlow: University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Arlo Raim: Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign
Robert H. Diehl: University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
Ronald P. Larkin: Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign
G. Henk Visser: Centre for Isotope Research, Groningen University

Nature, 2003, vol. 423, issue 6941, 704-704

Abstract: Abstract Billions of songbirds migrate between continents twice each year, but the energy costs of this feat have never been measured for free-flying individuals. Here we follow New World Catharus thrushes during their nocturnal migratory flights1,2, recapturing individuals after journeys of up to 600 km and determining their energy expenditure by using doubly labelled water3,4. Although flight itself is costly, our results confirm the counterintuitive prediction that songbirds expend double the amount of energy during stopovers that they spend on flight over their entire migration5,6.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1038/423704a

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