Establishing migratory connectivity between migratory birds' breeding, wintering, and stopover sites is an important component of their effective conservation and management. For neotropical migrants, geographic origins and migration patterns have been poorly documented. During fall migration of 2009, we identified geographic origins of the Veery (Catharus fuscescens) at stopover sites in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, northern Colombia, by analyzing stable hydrogen isotopes (δD) in feathers and from values expected from a long-term isoscape for North America of δD in feathers. We evaluated the importance of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the Veery on the basis of the birds' geographic origins and assessed the relationship between timing of migration and geographic origins and age. We estimated that 100 of the 197 individuals captured originated from the southwest and/or the northeast regions of their breeding range, but applying abundance in the breeding range as an informed prior probability further delimited the potential origin of 183 individuals and increased support for origins from the northeast. Feather δD and timing of arrival at the stopover sites were negatively correlated, suggesting a chain migration. Provided that there is no molt migration, adults originated primarily from the southernmost portion of the breeding range and arrived at the stopover site before hatch-year birds. Our study reveals the power of measurements of endogenous markers to clarify origins of birds captured during migration and suggests that Veeries converge on northern Colombia potentially from across the species' breeding range.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 November 2011
Geographic Origins and Timing of Fall Migration of the Veery in Northern Colombia
Ana M. González-Prieto,
Keith A. Hobson,
Nicholas J. Bayly,
Camila Gómez
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
The Condor
Vol. 113 • No. 4
November 2011
Vol. 113 • No. 4
November 2011
arrival time
deuterium
feathers
migratory connectivity
stable isotopes
stopover site