Bird Migration and the Climate: A Review of the Studies Conducted in Lithuania in the Context of Climate Change

Abstract

Studies employing different methods enabled us to investigate the relation between bird migration and the climate and the role of this relation in bird migration control. The conclusions are based on the results obtained for various stages of the migratory process: spring arrival, take-off, migratory en route flight, and migration abruption. Species specificity with regard to control is more pronounced in the stages of spring arrival, migratory take-off, and migration abruption, whereas it is less pronounced in the stage of the transitory migratory flight. This could be considered an expression of adaptations acquired in the course of evolution. The birds’ strategy to initiate the flight under environmental conditions ideal for migration provides a greater probability to continue migration under conditions favourable for orientation, energy, and aerodynamics. One of the purposes of this paper is to demonstrate the dependence of different stages of the migratory processes on changes in climatic characteristics.