Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Ens, B., Piersma, T., Wolf, W.J. & Zwarts, L. (1990) Homeward bound: problems waders face when migrating from the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania, to their northern breeding grounds in spring. ARDEA 78 (1-2): 1-16
This paper reviews the major conclusions in the articles comprising this special issue of ARDEA and attempts to define future research goals. Unifying theme is the question how waders manage to migrate from their major wintering area along the west coast of Africa, i.e. the Banc d'Arguin, to their northern breeding grounds in spring. First, a description of the environment is provided, including a figure for the standing stock of food, experiments on the possible occurrence of salt stress and observations on predation of waders by large falcons. Second, studies on the geographical breeding origin and the timing of departure in spring allow a time-tabling of the migration schedule. Third, the actual departure behaviour of waders taking off for migration is described. Fourth, an energy budget of migration is constructed. It includes a description of the pattern of mass gain, the energetic cost of tissue deposition, the amount of time spent feeding and evidence for internal as well as external limits to the rate of food intake. A major weakness in the advanced approach is the uncertainty surrounding the current estimates of parameters needed to calculate flight range. The study of how juvenile waders settle on the Bane d'Arguin in autumn may shed new light on the question why the Banc d'Arguin harbours so many waders.


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