Puffin winter distribution (1 Viewer)

[JTweedie]

Puffins that spend the breeding season in the UK are known to become widely dispersed in winter, so much so that birds that nest a few metres from each other can find themselves thousands of kilometres apart in winter.

However, has there been any research published showing if birds go to the same winter areas each year, or if for example one bird would go off Iceland one year, then the following year spend time in the Mediterranean?

I know we've only just started understanding their winter movements, so maybe this question is unanswered so far.

 

[MJB]

Puffins that spend the breeding season in the UK are known to become widely dispersed in winter, so much so that birds that nest a few metres from each other can find themselves thousands of kilometres apart in winter. However, has there been any research published showing if birds go to the same winter areas each year, or if for example one bird would go off Iceland one year, then the following year spend time in the Mediterranean? I know we've only just started understanding their winter movements, so maybe this question is unanswered so far.

I've seen small flocks zipping past Cape St Vincent turning left towards the Strait of Gibraltar. Ideal subject for geolocator research?
MJB

 

[Dave Boyle]

A Dispersive Migration in the Atlantic Puffin and Its Implications for Migratory Navigation
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0021336

Yep, birds do go back to the same areas

 

[JTweedie]

Thanks Dave, just what I was looking for. I'll have a read over your paper tomorrow.

 

[MJB]

A Dispersive Migration in the Atlantic Puffin and Its Implications for Migratory Navigation
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0021336 Yep, birds do go back to the same areas

Tim Guilford et al away ahead of me yet again!:-C
MJB

 

[JTweedie]

Read the paper last week, it was really interesting to see how widely the birds disperse over winter, and that individual birds don't visit a single site over this period, but some can move thousands of kilometres between August and the following spring.