On the Wintering Ecology of Montagu's Harriers in West Africa: Itinerancy in Relation to Varying Annual Environmental Conditions

Palearctic migrants wintering in Africa commonly use several sites throughout the winter, a strategy known as ‘itinerancy’. In this way, migrants track spatiotemporal variation in resources. Despite the importance of this strategy for migratory landbirds, we still lack detailed understanding of how variation in environmental conditions affects site use and the timing of movements between sites. We tracked 125 adult Montagu’s Harriers Circus pygargus from Western European breeding populations between 2005 and 2018 using satellite transmitters and GPS trackers. In total, data on 129 complete wintering seasons were obtained, including 33 individuals that were followed in two or more winters. Montagu’s Harriers were itinerant, using on average 3.3 wintering sites, to which they showed high site fidelity between years. The first sites harriers used after arriving in their wintering range were situated in the northern Sahel and were dominated by natural and sparse vegetation. Subsequent sites, situated further south in the Sahel, were mainly dominated by agricultural and natural habitats. Sites used by harriers had higher habitat diversity compared to random sites. Home range size and activity (time flying per day, daily distance) peaked at the last sites harriers used (i.e. the site from which they commenced spring migration). For individuals tracked in multiple seasons, we showed that home range size did not depend on vegetation greenness. However, the birds covered longer daily distances at the same site in drier years compared to greener (wetter) years. Importantly, the timing of the movements between wintering sites was affected by local environmental conditions, with individuals staying for shorter durations and departing earlier from first sites in drier years and arriving earlier at last sites in greener years. We conclude that within the context of a strategy of itinerancy, Montagu’s Harriers are faithful to the sites they use between years (spatial component), but flexible in the timing of use of these sites (temporal component), which they adjust to annual variation in environmental conditions.