title: Connectivity of wood thrush breeding, wintering, and migration sites based on range-wide tracking.
abstract: Many migratory animals are experiencing rapid population declines, but migration data with the geographic scope and resolution to quantify the complex network of movements between breeding and nonbreeding regions are often lacking. Determining the most frequently used migration routes and nonbreeding regions for a species is critical for understanding population dynamics and making effective conservation decisions. We tracked the migration of individual Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) (n = 102) from across their range with light-level geolocators and, for the first time, quantified migration routes and wintering regions for distinct breeding populations. We identified regional and species-level migratory connectivity networks for this declining songbird by combining our tracking results with range-wide breeding abundance estimates and forest cover data. More than 50% of the species occupied the eastern wintering range (Honduras to Costa Rica), a region that includes only one-third of all wintering habitat and that is undergoing intensive deforestation. We estimated that half of all Wood Thrushes in North America migrate south through Florida in fall, whereas in spring approximately 73% funnel northward through a narrow span along the central U.S. Gulf Coast (88-93°W). Identifying migratory networks is a critical step for conservation of songbirds and we demonstrated with Wood Thrushes how it can highlight conservation hotspots for regional populations and species as a whole.
authors: Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, M3J 1P3, Canada; Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C., 20013, U.S.A.; Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario Region, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Calandra Q
authors: CQ
authors: Stanley
authors: Emily A
authors: EA
authors: McKinnon
authors: Kevin C
authors: KC
authors: Fraser
authors: Maggie P
authors: MP
authors: Macpherson
authors: Garth
authors: G
authors: Casbourn
authors: Lyle
authors: L
authors: Friesen
authors: Peter P
authors: PP
authors: Marra
authors: Colin
authors: C
authors: Studds
authors: T Brandt
authors: TB
authors: Ryder
authors: Nora E
authors: NE
authors: Diggs
authors: Bridget J M
authors: BJ
authors: Stutchbury
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D002489:Central America; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005260:Female; D006702:Homing Behavior; D008297:Male; D009656:North America; D011157:Population Dynamics; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D012621:Seasons; D020308:Songbirds / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: América Central; Central America; Hylocichla mustelina; conectividad migratoria; deforestación tropical; geolocalizador; geolocator; migration network; migration route; migratory connectivity; red migratoria; ruta de migración; tropical deforestation