Visible Morning Flight of Neotropical Landbird Migrants at Cape-May, New-Jersey

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[edit] Author(s)

• Wiedner, D. S.
• Kerlinger, P.
• Sibley, D. A.
• Holt, P.
• Hough, J.
• Crossley, R.

[edit] Journal

Auk 109.3 (1992): 500-10.

[edit] Keywords

nocturnal passerine migrants migration stopover wind

[edit] Abstract

We studied the autumn morning flight of Neotropical migrants for two years at Cape May, New Jersey. A majority (86%) of the 24,378 identified Neotropical migrants were warblers, while thrushes (0.01%) rarely made morning flights. A disproportionately large number of migrants was seen on the day of and the day following cold fronts. Only 23% of all Neotropical migrants flew on days not associated with cold fronts, and nearly 12% flew in rain. Morning flights of Neotropical migrants commenced in late July, and 72% passed before 15 September. All migrants flew north. At Cape May, 87% of visible morning flight occurred within 2 h after sunrise. We examine several hypotheses advanced to explain morning flight and reverse migration, and conclude that the morning flight of Neotropical landbird migrants at Cape May probably consists of a combination of birds returning to land from the ocean, birds compensating for lateral drift incurred during the previous night's migration, and birds seeking habitat in which to rest and forage. Topography may dictate the direction of morning flight. We suggest that researchers in North America commence studies of autumn passerine migration in late July and that researchers studying habitat selection by migrant passerines wait 2 to 3 h after sunrise before conducting surveys to avoid sampling birds undertaking morning flight.

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