Ibis
Volume 156, Issue 4, 2014, Pages 864-869

Naïve migrants and the use of magnetic cues: Temporal fluctuations in the geomagnetic field differentially affect male and female Ruff Philomachus pugnax during their first migration (Article)

Rakhimberdiev E.* , Karagicheva J. , Jaatinen K. , Winkler D.W. , Phillips J.B. , Piersma T.
  • a Department of Marine Ecology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, Den Burg, Texel, 1790 AB, Netherlands, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Vertebrates, and Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
  • b Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Vertebrates, and Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
  • c Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
  • d Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Vertebrates, and Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University, Corson Hall, Ithaca, NY 14850, United States
  • e Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech, 4100 Derring Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0406, United States
  • f Department of Marine Ecology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, Den Burg, Texel, 1790 AB, Netherlands, Animal Ecology Group, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES), University of Groningen, PO Box 11103, CC Groningen, Netherlands

Abstract

In many species, naïve first-time migrants undertake migration without adults, supposedly on the basis of a 'simple' vector programme that combines an innate directional preference with a temporal programme that specifies distance. In strongly dimorphic species in which the sexes show distinct ecological requirements, the innate mechanisms of navigation may be expected to diverge between males and females with respect to their specific destinations. Based on captures of juvenile Ruff Philomachus pugnax at a migratory stopover over 21 years, a correlation was found between the year-specific sex ratio and the global magnetic field disturbance during the 2 weeks prior to the peak of captures in that year. This suggests that males and females respond differently to geomagnetic disturbance with changes in either the direction of migration or the level of migratory activity, and implies sex-specificity in the use of their geomagnetic navigational 'toolbox'. © 2014 British Ornithologists' Union.

Author Keywords

Sex differences Average planetary magnetic index Sex ratio Finland

Index Keywords

Philomachus pugnax
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84927581077&doi=10.1111%2fibi.12172&partnerID=40&md5=ca3279ead3e5d59f139fa51c4f02703b
DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12172
ISSN: 00191019
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English