Individual variability in the migratory path and stopovers of a long-distance pelagic migrant

摘要

The analysis of repeated journeys of the same individuals is becoming an important tool in the studyof animal migration. This approach has been used to analyse the migratory consistency (in schedules,routes and stopovers) of various species, with implications for the understanding of navigation mechanisms,travel strategies and conservation. However, few studies have addressed the individual consistencyin pelagic long-distance migrations, in particular in the routes followed in different years. Byanalysing 100 journeys from 35 individual Cory’s shearwaters, Calonectris diomedea, that repeatedlymigrated to the South African region we examined the fidelity to migratory paths and stopovers of atransequatorial seabird migrant. Cory’s shearwaters showed an overall trend to be faithful to their routesin different years, which was particularly obvious in the first (southbound) part of the outward migration.Nevertheless, we did not detect any individual consistency in the final part of the outwardmigration, in the return migration or in the location of the stopovers. The fact that Cory’s shearwaters canbe either consistent or inconsistent in different parts of their routes is possibly related to the variability ofthe external factors (such as wind conditions and location of good foraging areas) found along the way. 2013 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.