Ecophysiology of bird migration and stop-over behaviour
Migration remains one of the great mysteries of animal life. Many species of birds migrate each year and cross deserts or seas where there is no food and they can’t land. Bird migration requires behavioural and physiological adaptations that are particularly complex in nocturnal migrants. These species are normally active only during the day but perform migratory flights mainly or exclusively at night. Migrants exhibit intense nocturnal activity ("Zugunruhe") during the migratory seasons, which is absent during other times of the year. The physiological mechanisms that underlie such a dramatic behavioural transition are largely unknown.
Which hormones and other physiological factors tell an organism to migrate, to interrupt migration and search for food, and to resume migration?
The Ponza Research Project is a cooperation between Leonida Fusani (Univ. and Vet. Med. Univ. Vienna), Massimiliano Cardinale (Univ. Agr. Sci. Uppsala), Claudio Carere (Univ. Paris 13 Nord), and Wolfgang Goymann (MPIO)
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Selected publications of the Ponza project
Migrating songbirds on stopover prepare for, and recover from, oxidative challenges posed by long-distance flight. Ecology and Evolution 5 (15), S. 3198 - 3209 (2015)DOI
Food availability but not melatonin affects nocturnal restlessness in a wild migrating passerine. Hormones and Behavior 59 (1), S. 187 - 192 (2011)DOI
Body fat influences departure from stopover sites in migratory birds: Evidence from whole-island telemetry. Biology Letters 6 (4), S. 478 - 481 (2010)DOI
Stopover decision during migration: Physiological conditions predict nocturnal restlessness in wild passerines. Biology Letters 5 (3), S. 302 - 305 (2009)DOI