RT Journal Article
T1 Could bi‐axial orientation explain range expansion in a migratory songbird?
A1 Wynn, Joe
A1 Fandos Guzmán, Guillermo
A1 Delmore, Kira
A1 Van Doren, Benjamin M.
A1 Fransson, Thord
A1 Liedvogel, Miriam
AB The likelihood of a new migratory route emerging is presumably a function of 1) the associated fitness payoff and 2) the probability that the route arises in the first place. It has been suggested that diametrically opposed ‘reverse' migratory trajectories might be surprisingly common and, if such routes were heritable, it follows that they could underlie the rapid evolution of divergent migratory trajectories. Here, we used Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla; ‘blackcap') ringing recoveries and geolocator trajectories to investigate whether a recently evolved northwards autumn migratory route – and accompanying rapid northerly wintering range expansion – could be explained by the reversal of each individual's population-specific traditional southwards migratory direction. We found that northwards autumn migrants were recovered closer to the sites specified by an axis reversal than would be expected by chance, consistent with the rapid evolution of new migratory routes via bi-axial variation in orientation. We suggest that the surprisingly high probability of axis reversal might explain why birds expand their wintering ranges rapidly and divergently, and propose that understanding how migratory direction is encoded is crucial when characterising the genetic component underlying migration.
PB Nordic Society Oikos
SN 0908-8857
YR 2024
FD 2024-07-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118408
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/118408
LA eng
NO Wynn, J., Fandos, G., Delmore, K., Van Doren, B. M., Fransson, T., & Liedvogel, M. (2025). Could bi-axial orientation explain range expansion in a migratory songbird? Journal of Avian Biology, 2025(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/JAV.03196
NO This work was supported through funding from the Max Planck Society (MFFALIMN0001) and the DFG (SFB 1372 – Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates).
NO Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften
NO Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
DS Docta Complutense
RD 22 ene 2026