Carry-over effects and compensation: late arrival on non-breeding grounds affects wing moult but not plumage or schedules of departing bar-tailed godwits Limosa lapponica baueri

In the annual cycle of migratory birds, temporal and energetic constraints can lead to carry-over effects, in which performance in one life history stage affects later stages. Bar-tailed godwits Limosa lapponica baueri, which achieve remarkably high pre-migratory fuel loads, undertake the longest non-stop migratory flights yet recorded, and breed during brief high-latitude summers, may be particularly vulnerable to persistent effects of disruptions to their rigidly-timed annual routines. Using three years of non-breeding data in New Zealand, we asked how arrival timing after a non-stop flight from Alaska (>11 000 km) affected an individual godwit's performance in subsequent flight feather moult, contour feather moults, and migratory departure. Late arrival led to later wing moult, but godwits partially compensated for delayed moult initiation by increasing moult rate and decreasing the total duration of moult. Delays in arrival and wing moult up to 3437 d had no apparent effect on an individual's migratory departure or extent of breeding plumage at departure, both of which were extraordinarily consistent between years. Thus, errors in timing early in the non-breeding season were essentially corrected in New Zealand prior to spring migration. Variation in migration timing also had no apparent effect on an individual's likelihood of returning the following season. The bar-tailed godwits rigid maintenance of plumage and spring migration schedules, coupled with high annual survival, imply a surprising degree of flexibility to address unforeseen circumstances in the annual cycle.