Stable sulphur isotope (δ34S) ratios in bird feathers from India indicate strong segregation between the Himalaya and Gangetic plain, and the rest of India.

Abstract

Although stable hydrogen (δ²H) and carbon (δ¹³C) isotopic compositions of bird feathers have been increasingly used to understand the migration of birds through assignment of individuals to established isoscapes, far less is known about the structure of feather isoscapes based on stable sulphur isotope (δ³⁴S) assays. While δ²H isoscapes have been used to investigate the migratory origins of the Globe Skimmer (Pantala flavescens) dragonfly in India, no isotope studies have been applied to avian migration patterns in that region. Here, based on museum collections, we report the feather δ³⁴S values of 13 avian species that included marine birds with expected ³⁴S enriched feathers, resident birds throughout India and a single migratory species, Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus). Feathers from the marine birds were the most enriched (20.6 ± 1.2 ‰, n = 10; range = 4.4 ‰) in ³⁴S but terrestrial resident species also showed unexpectedly high δ³⁴S values (11.7 ± 4.8 ‰, n = 74; range = 19.9 ‰) throughout most of India but the Himalayan region and Gangetic plain typically showed δ³⁴S values less than 6.4 ‰. Our results show the utility of feather δ³⁴S studies to decipher avian and other animal migration between these two regions.