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Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds

  • Physiological ecology – original research
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Abstract

Migratory birds make decisions about how far to travel based on cost-benefit trade-offs. However, in many cases the net effect of these trade-offs is unclear. We sought to address this question by measuring feather corticosterone (CORTf), leucocyte profile, avian malaria parasite prevalence and estimating fueling rates in three spatially segregated wintering populations of the migratory shorebird ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres during their stay in the winter habitat. These birds fly from the high-Arctic breeding ground to Australia, but differ in that some decide to end their migration early (Broome, Western Australia), whereas others travel further to either South Australia or Tasmania. We hypothesized that the extra costs in birds migrating greater distances and overwintering in colder climates would be offset by benefits when reaching their destination. This would be evidenced by lower stress biomarkers in populations that travel further, owing to the expected benefits of greater resources and improved vitality. We show that avian malaria prevalence and physiological stress levels were lower in birds flying to South Australia and Tasmania than those overwintering in Broome. Furthermore, our modeling predicts that birds in the southernmost locations enjoy higher fueling rates. Our data are consistent with the interpretation that birds occupying more costly wintering locations in terms of higher migratory flight and thermoregulatory costs are compensated by better feeding conditions and lower blood parasite infections, which facilitates timely and speedy migration back to the breeding ground. These data contribute to our understanding of cost-benefit trade-offs in the decision making underlying migratory behaviour.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Gabby Hales for her help in the lab in preparing and assaying the samples. We thank the Victorian Wader Study Group and all the volunteers for their work and help in the field and to Debbie Buehler for her great help in learning leukocyte differentiation.

Author contribution statement

MK and YAR originally formulated the idea. YAR conducted field work. WAB, KLB and YAR performed the lab work of stress biomarkers. NC performed all parasite screening. MK and YAR developed the fuelling rate estimations. YAR performed statistical analysis. YAR wrote the manuscript with advices from all other authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Science, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

    Yaara Aharon-Rotman, Katherine L. Buchanan, Marcel Klaassen & William A. Buttemer

  2. Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Nathan, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Nicholas J. Clark

  3. Natural Environments Program, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, QLD, 4101, Australia

    Nicholas J. Clark

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  1. Yaara Aharon-Rotman
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  2. Katherine L. Buchanan
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  3. Nicholas J. Clark
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  4. Marcel Klaassen
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  5. William A. Buttemer
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Correspondence to Yaara Aharon-Rotman.

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Communicated by Oliver P Love.

Migratory birds make decisions about how far to travel based on cost-benefit trade-offs. Our results show that there is a clear benefit to occupy costly wintering habitats in terms of flight costs and thermoregulation as these are compensated by better feeding conditions and lower blood parasite levels. Our results enhance our understanding of cost-benefit trade offs in the decision making underlying migratory behaviour.

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Aharon-Rotman, Y., Buchanan, K.L., Clark, N.J. et al. Why fly the extra mile? Using stress biomarkers to assess wintering habitat quality in migratory shorebirds. Oecologia 182, 385–395 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3679-1

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