Spring and autumn migration of the red-breasted flycatcher through the Kizilirmak delta, Turkey

The red-breasted flycatcher Ficedula parva is a small passerine bird that breeds in Eastern Europe and across central Asia and winters on the Indian subcontinent. Birds from the western extreme of the breeding range migrating to and from the wintering grounds utilise a large longitudinal component en route that is not typical of the majority of European passerines. Therefore, it is one of the lesser-known species in Europe with respect to migration and biometrics. The aim of this study is to describe the numbers, phenology and biometry of the red-breasted flycatcher in relation to age, sex and migration season at a stopover site in northern Turkey. The number of individuals ringed in autumn was six times higher than in the spring passage. Furthermore, the period of the spring passage was shorter than in autumn, and in spring males migrate six days earlier than fe- males and juveniles; no such differences were found in antumn. Moreover, migrants carried more fuel reserves in spring than in autumn and no differences were recorded in the length of stopover duration. The study underlines the importance of further re- search into passerine migration across Turkey to better understand the whole migratory system of movements of the Palaearctic migratory passerine populations

Mining citizen science data to explore stopover sites and spatiotemporal variation in migration patterns of the red-footed falcon

Citizen scienee data have already been used to effectively address questions regarding migration,a fun dame ntal stage in the life history of birds.In this study,we use data from eBird and from 3 additional regional citizen scienee databases to describe the migration routes and timing of the red-footed falcon Falco vespertinus in the Mediterranean region across 8years(2010-2017).We further examine the seasonal and yearly variation in migration patterns and explore sites used during the species migration.Our results suggest that the autumn passage is spatially less variable and temporally more consistent among years than in spring and that birds migrate faster in spring than in autumn.The species seems to be more prevalent along the Central Mediterranean during spring migration,probably as a result of the clockwise loop migration that red-footed falcons perform.There was a high variation in annual median migration dates for both seasons as well as in migration routes across years and seasons.Higher variation was exhibited in the longitudinal component thus indicating flexibility in migration routes.In additi on,our results showed the species'preference for I owl a nds covered with cropla nd and mosaics of cropland and natural vegetation as stopover sites during migration.Stopover areas predicted from our distribution modeling highlight the importance of the Mediterranean islands as stopover sites for sea-crossing raptors,such as the red-footed falcon.This study is the first to provide a broad-scale spatiotemporal perspective on the species migration across seasons,years and flyways and dem on strates how citize n science data can inform future monitori ng and conservation strategies.