Around the globe, the seven-note whistle of the Whimbrel is a spring theme tune for shorebird migration. Where are flocks going to, as they gain height and head north in March, April and May, and why have birds chosen that particular moment to depart?
In a paper in Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution, Camilo Carneiro, Tómas Gunnarsson and José Alves analyse individual migration tracks of birds flying from West Africa to Iceland, including journeys made in successive springs by birds that have been part of the same study for several years. Can these birds help to explain how Whimbrel use time and weather cues in their travel ‘planning’ and might their plans change during the course of their lives?
Look up to the skies and see
Almost all of the Whimbrel that nest in Iceland migrate to West Africa after the breeding season, with just a tiny number wintering…
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