title: Flexibility of continental navigation and migration in European mallards.
abstract: The ontogeny of continent-wide navigation mechanisms of the individual organism, despite being crucial for the understanding of animal movement and migration, is still poorly understood. Several previous studies, mainly conducted on passerines, indicate that inexperienced, juvenile birds may not generally correct for displacement during fall migration. Waterbirds such as the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos, Linnaeus 1758) are more flexible in their migration behavior than most migratory songbirds, but previous experiments with waterbirds have not yet allowed clear conclusions about their navigation abilities. Here we tested whether immature mallard ducks correct for latitudinal displacement during fall migration within Europe. During two consecutive fall migration periods, we caught immature females on a stopover site in southeast Sweden, and translocated a group of them ca. 1,000 km to southern Germany. We followed the movements of the ducks via satellite GPS-tracking and observed their migration decisions during the fall and consecutive spring migration. The control animals released in Ottenby behaved as expected from banding recoveries: they continued migration during the winter and in spring returned to the population's breeding grounds in the Baltics and Northwest Russia. Contrary to the control animals, the translocated mallards did not continue migration and stayed at Lake Constance. In spring, three types of movement tactics could be observed: 61.5% of the ducks (16 of 26) stayed around Lake Constance, 27% (7 of 26) migrated in a northerly direction towards Sweden and 11.5% of the individuals (3 of 26) headed east for ca. 1,000 km and then north. We suggest that young female mallards flexibly adjust their migration tactics and develop a navigational map that allows them to return to their natal breeding area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Migration and Immuno-Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology,Radolfzell, Germany ; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Mariëlle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: van Toor
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hedenström
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waldenström
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: Kasper
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thorup
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wikelski
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004372:Ducks / Q000502:physiology*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons
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