Importance of the connectivity of Spanish stopovers for Black Storks

Damien Chevallier (1) , François Baillon (2) , Yvon Le Maho (1) , Stéphane Blanc (1) , Paul Brossault (3) , Sylvie Massemin (1)

1 DEPE-IPHC - Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie
2 EPV - Emergence des Pathologies Virales
3 Maison Forestière de la Tête de Maisey

Sixteen Black Storks (Ciconia nigra) were tracked by satellite during their autumnal and spring migrations in order to identify their major stopover sites and connections between stopovers in Europe and Africa. Among journeys with stopovers, the longest distance that a stork travelled without stopover was 2433 km (defined here as 'accessible distance') meaning that those storks which have stopovers use only a single stopover on average, and this is usually in Spain. We identified nine crucial stopovers (seven in Spain and two in Africa) with high connectivity highlighting the importance of Spanish stopover locations on the flyway of Black Storks.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement; Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Damien Chevallier, François Baillon, Yvon Le Maho, Stéphane Blanc, Paul Brossault, et al.. Importance of the connectivity of Spanish stopovers for Black Storks. Bird Study, 2013, in press. ⟨10.1080/00063657.2013.851643⟩. ⟨hal-00878983⟩