Migration patterns and breeding areas of Green Sandpipers Tringa ochropus wintering in southern Britain

ABSTRACT

Capsule:

Green Sandpipers Tringa ochropus wintering in southern Britain breed in western Scandinavia, from southern Norway to Finland. They leave Britain in late April and return by the end of June/early July.

Aims:

To determine the breeding areas of Green Sandpipers that spend their winter in southern Britain and to investigate their migration ecology.

Methods:

Green Sandpipers were fitted with archival tags (light level and GPS) whilst in their wintering area. Location data were collected during their northward migration to the breeding area, the breeding period and their return to southern England.

Results:

Birds departed from the wintering area in late April (median April 20) and moved rapidly to the breeding areas (median duration two days), a mean distance of 1463 km. Females stayed in the breeding areas for only 42 days and males 60 days. The return migration back to the wintering area took a median of 11.5 days with the first birds back by June 19 and the last by July 6.

Conclusions:

By spending the winter so far north and close to the breeding areas the birds are balancing the risks of poor survival in extreme cold winters with the benefits of rapid and relatively easy movement to and from their breeding areas.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Hertforshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust for permission to carry out this work on their reserve and for the team of volunteers who maintain the reserve in good condition for the birds. This project has been funded by ourselves and a group of local bird ringers: Robin Cole, Peter Oakenfull, Brian Sharp and the late Tom Kittle. We are also grateful for the support from the Robert Kiln Trust.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).