Callum Macgregor

Breeds across the Palearctic from Iberia to Siberia. Nominate striata in continental Europe, eastern neumanni breeds from South-East Europe (Greece) to Central Siberia. Distinct taxa on Mediterranean islands: tyrrhenica (Corsica, Sardinia), balearica (Balearic Islands), proposed to compose a separate species (Pons et al. 2016). Winter range covers most of sub-Saharan Africa.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		20600000-37400000,27900000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Spotted Flycatcher

Nominate striata from most West and North West regions migrate first southwards to Western Africa then move eastwards to later reach wintering grounds in Angola and adjacent countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia). Birds from Central and South Central regions reach similar wintering grounds. Nominate striata from North Europe migrate mainly southwards over South and South-East Europe and winter further south to South Africa. From light logger data, both ssp. tyrrhenica and balearica winter mainly in Angola.

Recoveries by Condition for Spotted Flycatcher

Most old records are dead recoveries, while most recent records come from usual ringing activities, both having potential different spatial and temporal heterogeneities across the continents. The recent use of light loggers on striata, tyrrhenica and balearica provided detailed information on migration flyway and phenology for some regions.

Annual Movements for Spotted Flycatcher

Most returns on breeding grounds occur from April onwards, mostly in the first decade of May in South-West, up to the second decade of May in the North. Autumn departures occur mainly in the second decade of September, with a rapid southward movement to reach the Sahel (Schaub and Jenni 2000), without long stopovers (Biebach 1985). Numerous records obtained in West Africa and Central Africa outside December-February indicate long stopovers and temporal staging in dedicated regions along the flyways, mostly in October and April. Adults and first calendar-years have been resighted in same African regions.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Spotted Flycatcher

Nominate striata from West and North West regions migrate first southwards to Western Africa, then move eastwards to later reach the wintering grounds late November/early December. Populations from North, Central and South-Central Europe display a more direct southwards movement across South-East Europe, with records on the wintering grounds from December to February for Northern birds. The multiple recoveries from various regions in central Africa in October-November and March-April might concern birds on the move to or from the wintering grounds. In autumn, Sahara crossing occurs during the second and third decade of September for striata of West and North-West Europe, about a week later for tyrrhenica and balearica, but the later reach their wintering grounds in early November (Jiguet et al. 2019). In spring, desert crossing occurs during the second half of April and the first decade of May (Jiguet et al. 2019).

Frédéric Jiguet

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Biebach, H.1985 . Sahara stopover in migratory flycatchers: fat and food affect the time program. Experentia 4: 695–697
Jiguet F, Burgess M, Thorup K, Conway G, Arroyo Matos JL, Barber L, Black J, Burton N, Castelló J, Clewley G, Copete JL, Czajkowski MA, Dale S, Davis T, Dombrovski V, Drew M, Elts J, Gilson V, Grzegorczyk E, Henderson I, Holdsworth M, Husbands R, et al.2019 . Desert crossing strategies of migrant songbirds vary between and within species. Scientific Reports 9 article no.: 20248 Link to Article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56677-4)
Pons J-M, Thibault J-C, Aymi R, Grussu M, Muntaner J, Olioso G, Sunyer JR, Touihri M, Fuchs J2016 . The role of western Mediterranean islands in the evolutionary diversification of the spotted flycatcher Muscicapa striata, a long‐distance migratory passerine species. Journal of Avian Biology 47: 386–398
Schaub M, Jenni L2000 . Body mass of six long-distance migrant passerine species along the autumn migration route. Journal of Ornithology 141: 441–460

Back to Analysis