A global perspective on the annual cycles of whimbrels

Comparative analyses are central to understanding broad‐scale patterns in avian ecology, yet their application is often constrained by fragmented and uneven data availability. Recent advances in tracking technology have generated unprecedented insights into shorebird movements, resulting in numerous studies on single populations or flyways. Bringing them together creates the opportunity to assess large‐scale knowledge gaps and develop a holistic understanding of migration patterns across a species' entire range. This can be particularly important for globally declining taxa, where population‐specific trends and threats may be obscured by coarse global assessments. We gathered most of the whimbrel ( Numenius hudsonicus and N. phaeopus ) tracking datasets collected to date to identify spatial gaps in tracking coverage, compare subspecies across the annual cycle to detect broad‐scale patterns, and integrate threat assessments to highlight key research fronts. Based on 2 626 843 locations from 251 individuals, we document a bias in tracking coverage with the major gaps in the African continent, Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and the breeding grounds in northern and central Russia. We also highlight spatial overlap among subspecies and substantial variation in annual‐cycle timing, migration distance, speed and stopover behaviour. Knowledge of threats was incomplete across subspecies, but we identified widespread pressures including development, hunting, invasive species, habitat alteration and other climate‐driven impacts, with particularly strong effects on Nearctic breeders and poorly understood but potentially escalating risks in several Palaearctic populations. Addressing the identified gaps through expanded and strategically co‐ordinated tracking studies, integration with demographic and taxonomic research, and focused analyses of migration ecology is essential to achieve a full annual‐cycle perspective and guide effective conservation for migratory species.

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Publication Details

Journal
Ibis
Published
2026-09-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.70111
Primary Topic
Avian ecology and behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

A global perspective on the annual cycles of whimbrels

Joshua Nightingale, Alan H. Kneidel, Robert E. Gill, Böðvar Þórisson et al.
Ibis
Avian ecology and behavior
article

A global perspective on the annual cycles of whimbrels

Joshua Nightingale, Alan H. Kneidel, Robert E. Gill, Böðvar Þórisson, Jeffrey F. Kelly, Ádám Lovas‐Kiss, Charlotte Francesiaz, Stephen C. Brown, Rebeca C. Linhart, Emmanuel Joyeux, Theunis Piersma, Philipp Schwemmer, Rivo Rabarisoa, Audrey Jaeger, Nathan R. Senner, Scott R. McWilliams, Sayam U. Chowdhury, Diana J. Hamilton, Philip W. Atkinson, Daniel R. Ruthrauff, Maina Handmaker, Anne N. M. A. Ausems, Pierrick Bocher, Fenliang Kuang, Erica Nol, Camilo Carneiro, Verónica Méndez, Malo Braquier, Matthieu Le Corre, Zhijun Ma, Brad Winn, Florinah Razafimandimby, Gary Allport, J. Alves, Felicia Sanders, David Li, Delip K. Das, Bryan Watts, Nils Warnock, Julie Paquet, Chrystyn Jones, Samantha J. Wolfe, Paula Cimprich, Frédéric Jiguet, Lee Tibbitts, Marie Pitts, Roeland Bom, Jason Mobley, Samuel NG, Shiloh Schulte, Tómas G. Gunnarsson, Shariful Islam, Shufen Yang, Chris Latty
article en

Abstract

Comparative analyses are central to understanding broad‐scale patterns in avian ecology, yet their application is often constrained by fragmented and uneven data availability. Recent advances in tracking technology have generated unprecedented insights into shorebird movements, resulting in numerous studies on single populations or flyways. Bringing them together creates the opportunity to assess large‐scale knowledge gaps and develop a holistic understanding of migration patterns across a species' entire range. This can be particularly important for globally declining taxa, where population‐specific trends and threats may be obscured by coarse global assessments. We gathered most of the whimbrel ( Numenius hudsonicus and N. phaeopus ) tracking datasets collected to date to identify spatial gaps in tracking coverage, compare subspecies across the annual cycle to detect broad‐scale patterns, and integrate threat assessments to highlight key research fronts. Based on 2 626 843 locations from 251 individuals, we document a bias in tracking coverage with the major gaps in the African continent, Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and the breeding grounds in northern and central Russia. We also highlight spatial overlap among subspecies and substantial variation in annual‐cycle timing, migration distance, speed and stopover behaviour. Knowledge of threats was incomplete across subspecies, but we identified widespread pressures including development, hunting, invasive species, habitat alteration and other climate‐driven impacts, with particularly strong effects on Nearctic breeders and poorly understood but potentially escalating risks in several Palaearctic populations. Addressing the identified gaps through expanded and strategically co‐ordinated tracking studies, integration with demographic and taxonomic research, and focused analyses of migration ecology is essential to achieve a full annual‐cycle perspective and guide effective conservation for migratory species.

Ibis
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Massachusetts Audubon Society (US), National Center for State Courts (US), South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (US), University of Debrecen (HU), National Parks Board (SG), Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (US), University of Alaska Anchorage (US), Ifremer (FR), Mount Allison University (CA), University of Iceland (IS), University of Groningen (NL), University of Rhode Island (US), Fryske Akademy (NL), Aarhus University (DK), University of Cambridge (GB), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), University of Reunion Island (RE), Sorbonne Université (FR), Centre d'Écologie et des Sciences de la Conservation (FR), Centre Technique de la Conservation des Produits Agricoles (FR), LIttoral ENvironnement et Sociétés (FR), Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NL), Lotte Fine Chemical (South Korea) (KR), Jagannath University (BD), Institute of Wetland Research (CN), HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research (HU), Ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement Durable (SN), Chuxiong Normal University (CN), Conservation Leadership Programme (GB), BirdLife international (GB), Fundação de Estudos e Pesquisas Aquáticas (BR), Alaska Biological Research (United States) (US), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Manomet Conservation Sciences (US), University of Aveiro (PT), Trent University (CA), British Trust for Ornithology (GB), University of Oklahoma (US)
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, African Bird Club, Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Rannís, Office Français de la Biodiversité, Centro de Estudos Ambientais e Marinhos, Universidade de Aveiro, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Interreg
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Avian ecology and behavior
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