Migration strategies, performance and annual activity budget in a short-distance migrant, the common starling Sturnus vulgaris

Migratory birds typically separate energetically demanding parts of the annual cycle like breeding, moult and migration with some species engaging in so-called moult-migration. Moult-migration is known to occur in starlings from the northern breeding populations, however, little is known about the dynamics of this phenomenon and the costs and benefits for the involved individuals. Here, using state-of-the art multi-sensor geolocators we gathered information about the annual cycles of 10 starlings from two breeding sites in Latvia. We used a novel analytical approach based on atmospheric pressure measurements to reveal that all but one of the tracked individuals migrated to wintering sites in the British Isles. Tracking data exposed two separate migration strategies – 1) departure from the breeding grounds in mid-June soon after chick fledging with long stationary periods at moulting sites approx. 900 km westward (n = 5 of 10); 2) residing in close vicinity of the breeding sites up until the end of October (n = 5 of 10). Accelerometer data revealed significantly higher activity budgets during moult for the individuals exhibiting moult-migration. Furthermore, birds that underwent moult-migration arrived at the breeding sites in the following year on average 10 days later and showed significantly higher activity levels during the pre-breeding period compared to birds without moult-migration. Activity tracking also showed that 67% of all migratory flights were performed during the night, contradicting previous assumptions of starlings being predominantly diurnal migrants. Maximum recorded flight altitudes reached 2500 m a.s.l. and the longest uninterrupted flight lasted 22.5 h. Our results highlight energetic trade-offs of moult-migration in starling, but their downstream consequences remain to be tested.