Seasonal differences in migration strategies of Red Kites (Milvus milvus) wintering in Spain

Red Kite shows a great variability in its migration strategies: most individuals in north-eastern Europe are migrants, but there is also a growing number of sedentary individuals. Here, we tagged 49 Red Kites wintering in Spain with GPS/satellite transmitters between 2013 and 2020 to study the autumn and spring migration between the breeding or summering areas in Central Europe and the wintering quarters in Spain. In first place, differences between immatures and adults were found for spring migration. Adults began the spring migration towards the northeast in February-March while the immature individuals began to migrate significantly later and showing a wider date range (February-June). Adults also takes significantly less days to arrive at their destinations (12 +/- 5 days) and cover more distance per day (134.2 +/- 37.1 km/day) than immatures (19 +/- 11 days and 98.9 +/- 21.2 km/day). In second place, we also found differences between spring and autumn migration (excluding immatures). Spring migrations were clearly faster and with less stopovers days than autumn migrations. Autumn migration began between mid-October and late November and two different behaviours were observed: most birds made a quick migration direct to the wintering areas with only some days of stopovers, but others prolonged the migration with long stops along the route. These results highlight a great variation in the migratory movements of Red Kite, not only according to age but also between individuals and seasons.

Automated summary

The study on Red Kites revealed differences in migration strategies between adults and immatures, with adults migrating more efficiently and quickly to their destinations. Additionally, spring migrations were observed to be faster and with fewer stopovers than autumn migrations.