Migration phenology and behaviour of songbirds

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Migration enables organisms to enhance survival and reproductive success by synchronizing their activities with favourable environmental conditions. Climate change and increasing anthropogenic light pollution may disrupt this temporal synchrony. My long-term research objective is to identify the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms governing migration timing and how these may limit, or promote, adaptive responses to environmental change. This requires investigating how interactions between endogenous and environmental factors govern the phenology of migratory organisms. Photoperiod is hypothesized to be the most important external cue for avian migration schedules. My first short-term objective 1) is to test the hypothesis that variation in photoperiod experienced by nestlings is a mechanism that entrains migration timing programs (ontogenetic effect). I will also investigate whether anthropogenic light pollution can influence the development and maintenance of migratory schedules. The degree to which extrinsic factors en route cue or constrain migratory timing will be investigated by using new tracking systems. These will allow me to 2) determine how environmental factors experienced during migration impact its timing, and test whether photoperiod en route serves as an external cue by which birds can adjust migration timing to match their innate phenology. I will also, 3) determine what life history factors can influence migration timing, including energetically costly events such as moult. Lastly, migration timing may respond and be fine-tuned by external cues of food availability. I will therefore 4) investigate whether timing is synchronized with the migration timing of a major prey (Libellulidae) for my study organism. I use a temperate breeding, migratory songbird species (Progne subis) as a study system due to its abundance, ease of access at experimental research colonies, and the availability of my existing long-term migration dataset. By integrating field experiments and bird-borne tracking systems to measure behaviour during actual migration, my students and I will build upon previous laboratory studies that were mostly limited to the use of non-specific measures of migratory activity.The proposed research will support training of 16 HQP. Overall, I will advance fundamental knowledge of mechanisms shaping the development and maintenance of migratory programs and provide novel insight into the degree to which migratory behaviour is flexible to changing environmental conditions. Most of Canada's birds are migratory, and many species are experiencing steep rates of population decline. My research will enable predictions for how migratory birds will be affected by environmental change, enhancing the identification of populations at risk, and contributing to the development of more effective conservation management and policy for species of concern.