animals Article Increased Stopover Duration and Low Body Condition of the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) at an Autumn Stopover Site Bernice Goffin 1,* , Marcial Felgueiras 2 and Anouschka R. Hof 1,3 1 Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands;
[email protected] 2 A Rocha, Apartado 41, 8501-903 Mexilhoeira Grande, Portugal;
[email protected] 3 Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden * Correspondence: Bernice.Goffi
[email protected] Received: 13 October 2020; Accepted: 20 November 2020; Published: 25 November 2020 Simple Summary: Many bird species that migrate long distances are in decline partly because of environmental changes, such as climate change or land-use changes. Although much is already known on the effects of environmental change on birds that are on their spring migration or on their breeding grounds, little is known with regard to possible negative effects on birds that are on their autumn migration and visiting so-called stopover sites on their way to their wintering grounds. These stopover sites are vital for birds to refuel, and a potential deteriorating quality of the stopover sites may lead to individuals dying during migration. We investigated the impacts of local environmental conditions on the migration strategy and body condition of the Pied Flycatcher at an autumn migration stopover site using long-term ringing data and local environmental conditions. We found that although birds arrived and departed the stopover site around the same time over the years, the body condition of the individuals caught decreased, and the length of their stay at the stopover site increased.