Transcontinental pathways and seasonal movements of an Asian migrant, the Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula tundrae

Little is known about the migration of Common Ringed Plovers Charadrius hiaticula in the Asian part of their range. This study describes the seasonal movements of birds from the easternmost population of the subspecies tundrae (S Chukotka, E Russia) based on data from geolocators. The wintering grounds of five males were scattered from the Persian Gulf to the Nile Delta and south to Somalia. During the wintering period three birds made only local movements, whereas two others moved 1,100 and 3,200 km northward in the second half of March, before embarking on pre-breeding migration one month later. During post-breeding migration, the birds used a ‘hopping’ strategy, following the inland West Asian–East African Flyway and making hundreds of stops of various lengths, as recorded by their geolocators’ conductivity sensors. We recognize three main regional stopover areas during southward and northward migration. The pathways of each bird were rather similar in autumn and spring in the southwestern half of the routes, while a loop migration was evident in Siberia, and although the distances covered were longer, the migration speed was faster on the northbound route than on the southbound one. The migration tracks likely reflect a historical eastward expansion of the breeding grounds of this species.