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Cheeked Thrushes (Catharus Minimus Minimus) Received July 25, 2018; Accepted October 4, 2018 1 Introduction

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Cheeked Thrushes (Catharus Minimus Minimus) Received July 25, 2018; Accepted October 4, 2018 1 Introduction Anim. Migr. 2018; 5: 42-48 Research Article Open Access Darroch M. Whitaker*, Ian G. Warkentin, Keith A. Hobson, Peter Thomas, Rinchen Boardman Fall and winter movements of Newfoundland Gray- cheeked Thrushes (Catharus minimus minimus) https://doi.org/10.1515/ami-2018-0004 Received July 25, 2018; accepted October 4, 2018 1 Introduction Abstract: The Newfoundland subspecies of Gray-cheeked The Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus; Figure 1) is Thrush (Catharus minimus minimus) has declined since a Neotropical migrant songbird that breeds in northern the 1980s and degradation of winter habitat has been boreal forests from Newfoundland to Alaska and across suggested as a contributing stressor. However, the winter the Bering Sea into eastern Siberia. The population range of this subspecies is not well understood, so we breeding on Newfoundland has been described as fitted 29 males with archival GPS tags during summer a distinct subspecies, C. m. minimus, based on size, 2016. Four tagged thrushes were recaptured in summer color, and molecular genetics, while those breeding 2017 and, though all tags had missing locations and from central Labrador west are considered to represent broken antennae, the data retrieved showed that one the “Northern” Gray-cheeked Thrush, C. m. aliciae [1] thrush wintered in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (see [2] for photos and a description of taxonomic and (SNSM) in northern Colombia, one in the nearby Sierra morphological distinctions between subspecies). Though de Perijá in Venezuela, and a third may have settled in once-abundant, the population on Newfoundland has the same region. One tag provided locations until April declined sharply since the 1980s [3]. Little is known about 21 and that thrush was consistently detected within a ~1 the underlying cause(s) of this decline, though both nest ha area through the winter. Locations obtained during predation by red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), fall migration indicated that thrushes travelled to South which were introduced to the island in the 1960s, and America via Central America and possibly by directly loss or degradation of winter habitat have been proposed crossing the Caribbean. Contemporary research indicates as possible stressors [1-3]. However, lack of information that the SNSM is an important migratory stopover for on migratory connectivity and the location of the winter Northern Gray-cheeked Thrushes (C. m. aliciae) but a range for C. m. minimus has been a barrier to evaluating historical report coupled with our observations suggest the latter hypothesis. winter use of the SNSM and adjacent areas in northern The winter range of Gray-cheeked Thrushes spans South America by C. m. minimus, though numbers may be ~2,600 km in northern South America, encompassing lower than during the 1900s. ~4,000,000 km2 (Figure 2; [2]). Within this region the species is primarily associated with lowland tropical Keywords: Colombia, migration, migratory connectivity, forests of the northwestern Amazon and Orinoco River PinPoint GPS tag, Venezuela, winter drainages, including southern Venezuela, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, northeastern Peru and northwestern Brazil, as well as the lower slopes of the *Corresponding author: Darroch M. Whitaker, Parks Canada, Rocky northern Andes in Colombia. Though the broader limits of Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador A0K 4N0, Canada, E-mail: this winter range are poorly described, they likely include [email protected] northern regions in Colombia and Venezuela as well as Ian G. Warkentin, Environmental Science, Memorial University, Cor- Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and eastern Panama. Little ner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador A2H 6P9, Canada Keith A. Hobson, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Saska- is known about the degree of migratory connectivity in toon, Saskatchewan S7N 3H5, Canada this species, though Ungvari-Martin et al. [4] reported that Peter Thomas, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Sackville, individuals wintering at a site in the upper Amazon basin New Brunswick E4L 1G6, Canada of eastern Peru likely bred in northwestern North America Thunder Cape Bird Observatory, Bird Studies Rinchen Boardman, based on stable isotope analyses. George J. Wallace, who Canada, P.O Box 160, 115 Front Street, Port Rowan, Ontario N0E 1M0, Canada first described the distinct appearance of Newfoundland’s Open Access. © 2018 Darroch M. Whitaker et al., published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. Fall and winter movements of Newfoundland Gray-cheeked Thrushes (Catharus minimus minimus) 43 Figure 1. Newfoundland Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus minimus) fitted with a GPS tag (a) note arrow pointing to antenna of GPS tag that is barely visible mid dorsal (b) GPS tag on thrush immediately after attachment and prior to release. Gray-cheeked Thrushes, carried out an extensive analysis of museum collections and identified eight specimens from South America that he felt were probably from the Newfoundland population [5]. These included the type specimen for the species, which was reported as originating from Bogotá, Colombia, by Frederic de Lafresnaye in 1848, as well as seven individuals collected near Santa Marta on the northeastern coast of Colombia in 1898 and 1899 (p. 391 in [5]; see also [6]). Important details of the migratory behavior of Gray- cheeked Thrushes are also poorly understood. During fall, Gray-cheeked Thrushes from eastern North American breeding sites are known to migrate south through the eastern United States [2]. Most then cross either the Gulf of Mexico or the western portion of the Caribbean to make landfall in the Yucatán Peninsula or further south and west in Central America, after which they continue overland using a coastal Central American route into South America via the Darién in Colombia [7]. However, there is also evidence of flexibility in migratory routes, and a smaller number are thought to travel more directly to South America across the Caribbean, making landfall at Figure 2. Migration and winter locations of four Gray-cheeked sites such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (SNSM) in Thrushes tracked from a breeding area on Newfoundland, Canada, during fall and winter of 2016 and 2017. Joining lines do not reflect northern Colombia [2, 7]. the actual path. The species’ approximate breeding range is shown We used newly available, lightweight archival Global in green, migration range in yellow, and wintering range in blue Positioning System (GPS) tags to collect information [26]. on migratory movements and wintering areas of 44 D.M. Whitaker, et al. Newfoundland Gray-cheeked Thrushes. Our primary mixing as we only studied thrushes from one breeding goal was to assess migratory connectivity and identify site, but did calculate the mean pairwise distance between wintering areas of C. m. minimus, with the added hope the wintering sites of individuals and compared this to that locations obtained during migration would offer the breadth of the overall winter range of the species as a insight into the species’ migratory behavior. measure of population spread. For this calculation, range breadth was estimated based on the description provided 2 Methods in [2] (see also Figure 2). Field work was carried out during June and July of 2016 3 Results and 2017 at a study area in the Long Range Mountains of western Newfoundland that supports a large residual During June and July, 2016, we fitted nine male Gray- breeding population of C. m. minimus (49.8º N 57.3º W; cheeked Thrushes with PinPoint-8 tags and 20 males with see [8]). Thrushes were captured using targeted mist PinPoint-10 tags. PinPoint-8 tags averaged 3.33% of the netting coupled with broadcasts of thrush calls and song mass of the thrushes to which they were fitted (range 2.96- to attract territorial birds. Captured birds were fitted 3.53%), while PinPoint-10 tags averaged 3.82% of thrush with a uniquely numbered, aluminum federal leg band mass (range 3.12-4.26%). Four of the 29 tagged thrushes on the right leg, and males were also equipped with a were recaptured in June and July of 2017, including three blue plastic band on the left leg and either a PinPoint-8 equipped with PinPoint-8 tags and one with a PinPoint-10 or PinPoint-10 GPS tag (Figures 1 and 3; Lotek Wireless tag. The antenna had been broken off at its base for all Inc., Newmarket, ON, Canada; see [9]); these archival four tags (see Figure 3b), and when downloaded the tags tags collect locations accurate to within a few meters but contained two to seven successful fixes, yielding a total must be recovered when birds return to their breeding of 15 successful fixes as well as seven failed fixes out of territories the following year to download location a maximum of 32 possible; the last successful fix was data. Tags were attached using backpack-style leg loop collected on April 21, 2017 (Table 1). Three tags included harnesses (Figure 3a; [10-12]) made from 0.7 mm diameter fixes obtained in South America and showed that two Stretch Magic silicone cord (Pepperell Braiding Company, thrushes had travelled to the SNSM region of Colombia and Pepperell, MA, USA) joined by melting the ends together one went to a nearby site in Venezuela. However, the last with a soldering iron. Harness lengths averaged 51.8 mm fix for one of the thrushes that went to SNSM was collected (range 50.3-53.7 mm; n = 29), and the average weight of the on October 27, when many thrushes are still migrating, so PinPoint-8 tags (including harnesses) was 1.07 g (range it may not yet have reached its final wintering area. The 1.05-1.09 g; n = 9), while the PinPoint-10 tags averaged 1.23 distance between the two thrushes with winter fixes was g (range 1.11-1.32 g; n = 20).
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