AGORA: Migration on Swift Wings
Swifts are highly aerial birds exploring seasonal and ephemeral invertebrate aerial prey and cover long distances on migration across continents. Some of the longest migrations are found in swifts. We have used microdataloggers to record the migrations and flight behavior of individual swifts. Our tracking data show that several species of swifts spend the non-breeding period on the wing, putting the physiological challenges to the extreme. Our studies further show swifts time movements relative to food availability and face increased mortality risk during extreme weather events. In this talk I will present our recent work on continental-wide movements of swifts.
Susanne Åkesson joins ABOAGORA remotely this year, live via Zoom from Lund University. Those who would like to watch together are welcome to follow the talk on site at Sven Auditorium in Astra.
Susanne Åkesson
Susanne Åkesson completed a PhD in Animal Ecology at Lund University on songbird orientation and migration in 1995. She lead the Animal Navigation Lab and was the director for the Center for Animal Movement Research (CAnMove; 2008-2020) at Lund University. Her research involves tracking bird migration using multi-sensor loggers and controlled lab experiments investigating the adaptations to migration in songbirds, including work on songbirds, seabirds, raptors, swifts, and nightjars and are performed on several continents.
Susanne Åkesson is a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. She has won the August Prize for the best non-fiction book in Sweden 2009.