Nearctic Neotropical migratory songbirds incur the highest mortality during migration. En-route, songbirds rely on a network of stopover sites to rest, refuel, and/or seek refuge during poor weather. Conservation strategies prioritize protection of sites that best meet these needs. However, the specific function of a stopover site is expected to vary in relation to factors, such as geographic location, surrounding landscape, and weather. To identify sites with the highest conservation value for migratory songbirds, a conceptual framework was independently developed to classify sites into three functional categories based on their geographic and landscape features: fire escapes, convenience stores, and full-service hotels. The few attempts to empirically validate this framework have focused on temperate stopover sites. We evaluated the framework by testing the hypothesis that a site’s geographic and landscape characteristics can predict its function. We used capture and radio-tracking data at an island and mainland site in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico to quantify mean and variance in daily capture rate, body condition, stopover duration, and departure behavior during autumn, with a focus on four species: Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus), Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), and Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea). Our results supported our predictions that the island functions as a fire escape, providing refuge for very high numbers of birds after encountering crosswinds or headwinds over the Gulf of Mexico, and the mainland forest site serves as a full-service hotel. The framework provides valuable insight for strategic conservation planning and management of stopover sites for songbirds. We suggest future studies evaluate the framework’s application to non-forest bird species. Additionally, we encourage collaborative efforts to consolidate and integrate tracking data, capture data from migration banding stations, and radar-based bird density estimates across a broad geography to test the framework’s ability to inform conservation planning across species’ full migratory range.

The post Full-service hotels, convenience stores, or fire escapes? Evaluating the functional role of stopover sites for Neotropical migrants following passage across the Gulf of Mexico in autumn first appeared on Avian Conservation and Ecology.

近北极新热带候鸟在迁徙过程中死亡率最高。在途中，鸣禽依靠中途停留地点网络来休息、补充能量和/或在恶劣天气期间寻求庇护。保护策略优先保护最能满足这些需求的遗址。然而，中途停留地点的具体功能预计会因地理位置、周围景观和天气等因素而有所不同。为了确定对候鸟鸣禽具有最高保护价值的地点，我们独立开发了一个概念框架，根据其地理和景观特征将地点分为三个功能类别：消防通道、便利店和全方位服务酒店。实证验证该框架的少数尝试主要集中在温带中途停留地点。我们通过测试站点的地理和景观特征可以预测其功能的假设来评估该框架。我们使用墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的一个岛屿和大陆地点的捕获和无线电跟踪数据来量化每日捕获率、身体状况、中途停留时间和秋季出发行为的平均值和方差，重点关注四个物种：画眉鸟（Catharus ustulatus )、红眼绿鸟 ( Vireo olivaceus )、灰猫鸟 ( Dumetella carolinensis ) 和原鸟莺 ( Protonotaria citrea )）。我们的结果支持了我们的预测，即该岛充当防火梯，为墨西哥湾上空遭遇侧风或逆风的大量鸟类提供庇护，而大陆森林遗址则充当提供全方位服务的酒店。该框架为鸣禽中途停留地的战略保护规划和管理提供了宝贵的见解。我们建议未来的研究评估该框架在非森林鸟类物种中的应用。此外，我们鼓励合作努力整合和整合跟踪数据，从迁徙环带站捕获数据，以及基于雷达的广泛地理范围内的鸟类密度估计，以测试该框架为整个物种迁徙范围内的保护规划提供信息的能力。

后全方位服务酒店、便利店或消防梯？《评估新热带候鸟秋季穿越墨西哥湾后中途停留地的功能作用》首次发表在《鸟类保护与生态学》上。