A dispersive migration in the Atlantic Puffin and its implications for migratory navigation

Guilford, Tim; Freeman, Robin; Boyle, Dave; Dean, Ben; Kirk, Holly; Phillips, Richard; Perrins, Chris. 2011 A dispersive migration in the Atlantic Puffin and its implications for migratory navigation. PLoS One, 6 (7), E21336. 8, pp. 10.1371/journal.pone.0021336

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Official URL: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.137...

Abstract/Summary

Navigational control of avian migration is understood, largely from the study of terrestrial birds, to depend on either genetically or culturally inherited information. By tracking the individual migrations of Atlantic Puffins, Fratercula arctica, in successive years using geolocators, we describe migratory behaviour in a pelagic seabird that is apparently incompatible with this view. Puffins do not migrate to a single overwintering area, but follow a dispersive pattern of movements changing through the non-breeding period, showing great variability in travel distances and directions. Despite this within-population variability, individuals show remarkable consistency in their own migratory routes among years. This combination of complex population dispersion and individual route fidelity cannot easily be accounted for in terms of genetic inheritance of compass instructions, or cultural inheritance of traditional routes. We suggest that a mechanism of individual exploration and acquired navigational memory may provide the dominant control over Puffin migration, and potentially some other pelagic seabirds, despite the apparently featureless nature of the ocean.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1371/journal.pone.0021336
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Ecosystems
ISSN:	1932-6203
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open access article made available under a CC-BY Creative Commons Attribution license.
NORA Subject Terms:	Zoology
Date made live:	20 Sep 2011 13:24 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/15140

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1371/journal.pone.0021336

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > Polar Science for Planet Earth (2009 - ) > Ecosystems

ISSN:

1932-6203

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open access article made available under a CC-BY Creative Commons Attribution license.

NORA Subject Terms:

Zoology