Establishing the Breeding Provenance of a Temperate-Wintering North American Passerine, the Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Using Light-Level Geolocation

摘要: The migratory biology and connectivity of passerines remains poorly known, even for those that move primarily within the temperate zone. We used light-level geolocators to describe geography a North American migrant passerine. From February March 2010, we attached geolocator tags 33 Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia atricapilla) wintering on central coast California, USA, recovered four following winter (October December 2010). Bayesian state-space model estimate most likely breeding locations. All birds spent season Gulf Alaska. These locations spanned approximately 1200 kilometers, none individuals bred in same location. Speed migration was nearly twice as fast during spring than fall. return rate tagged previous (33%) similar control (39%), but comparing rates complicated because 7 11 returning had lost their tags. For recaptured before migration, found no significant difference mass change between birds. Our results provide insight into previously-unknown provenance population more evidence contributions geolocation can make our understanding small passerines.