Title

Long-distance navigation in birds:  lessons learned from cage experiments and individual tracking

Abstract

In my current research, I study movement ecology and especially the phenotypic characteristics of the endogenous migration program in birds, and how animals have adapted to cope with long migrations. Part of this work is dedicated to study the migration phenotype of young birds, and especially the variation and functional characteristics of the endogenous migration program guiding solo-migrating birds on their first migration. I am interested in how different internal and external factors may lead to variation between individuals and species in how the program is expressed. I also have a strong interest in research questions connecting biology and physics, more precisely in sensory ecology, involving studies of how animals use skylight polarization and the earth’s magnetic field for orientation. Some of these studies have been performed during expeditions in the high Arctic. In recent years I track several species of birds during long-distance migrations, including swifts nightjars and Caspian terns.