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

• Published in: Current zoology 2015-06, Vol.61 (3), p.412-420
• Main Author: Kiraz ERCIYAS-YAVUZ Piotr ZDUNIAK Y. Sancar BARIS
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 三角洲; 印度次大陆; 土耳其; 整体迁移; 生物识别; 秋季; 迁徙; 鸟类品种
• ISSN: 1674-5507; 2396-9814
• DOI: 10.1093/czoolo/61.3.412

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