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Partial Migration, Oversummering, and Intermittent Breeding by Shorebirds
The American Naturalist
|April 3, 2025
Summary
Some shorebirds skip breeding migration to oversummer, balancing survival gains against lost reproduction. This life history trade-off explains why younger birds oversummer more, impacting population productivity and declines.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Ornithology
Background:
- Some long-distance migrant shorebirds exhibit "oversummering," remaining in nonbreeding areas instead of migrating to breed.
- Previous hypotheses linked oversummering to factors hindering migration and breeding success.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and test a life history trade-off hypothesis for shorebird oversummering.
- To explain oversummering patterns based on the balance between survival benefits and reproductive costs.
Main Methods:
- Developed a life history trade-off model predicting oversummering based on survival advantages versus foregone reproduction.
- Applied the model to explain observed oversummering patterns in semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) and western sandpipers (C. mauri) in Peru.
Main Results:
- The model predicts that oversummering evolves when survival benefits outweigh reproductive losses.
- Adults oversummer less than yearlings due to higher reproductive success.
- Individual variation in condition can lead to partial oversummering.
Conclusions:
- The life history trade-off hypothesis accurately predicts oversummering patterns in sandpipers.
- Delayed maturity and intermittent breeding significantly affect shorebird population productivity.
- Increased oversummering may contribute to recent declines in some shorebird populations.
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