Autumn migration of Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus in southern Sweden: results from ten years of crepuscular ringing

Adam Bergner; Christer Elderud; Kent Person; Lars Gezelius

doi:10.34080/os.v31.22319

Authors

Adam Bergner Tåkern Field Station https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1561-9095
Christer Elderud Tåkern Field Station
Kent Person Tåkern Field Station
Lars Gezelius Tåkern Field Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34080/os.v31.22319

Keywords:

wader, shorebird, age determination, stopover, trapping, ageing

Abstract

The autumn migration of Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus was studied using mist-netting at night along a muddy shoreline at Lake Tåkern in southern central Sweden. During ten consecutive autumn seasons ranging from mid-September to mid-November a total of 107 birds were captured, particularly within the first two hours after dusk. The peak of migration occurred in the first ten days of October with the juvenile birds on average passing a few days earlier than the adult birds. We present information on movements and ringing recoveries and review the challenges of ageing the species. We propose that crepuscular mist-netting near wetlands offering important staging grounds may be a suitable method to monitor the migratory movements, and possibly the population dynamics, of this little-studied species.

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