The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media: intriguing variations on a grand theme

The migration of the great snipe Gallinago media was previously poorly known. Three tracks in 2010 suggested a remarkable migratory behaviour including long and fast overland non-stop flights (Klaassen et al. 2011). Here we present the migration pattern of Swedish male great snipes, based on 19 individuals tracked by light-level geolocators in four different years. About half of the birds made stopover(s) in northern Europe in early autumn. They left the breeding area 15 days earlier than those which flew directly to sub-Sahara, suggesting two distinct autumn migration strategies. The autumn trans-Sahara flights were on average 5500 km long, lasted 64 h, and were flown at ground speeds of 25 m s-1 (90 km h-1). The arrival in the Sahel zone of West Africa coincided with the wet season there, and the birds stayed for on average three weeks. The birds arrived at their wintering grounds around the lower stretches of the Congo River in late September and stayed for seven months. In spring the great snipes made trans-Sahara flights of similar length and speed as in autumn, but the remaining migration through eastern Europe was notably slow. All birds returned to the breeding grounds within one week around mid-May. The annual cycle was characterized by relaxed temporal synchronization between individuals during the autumn-winter period, with maximum variation at the arrival in the wintering area. Synchronization increased in spring, with minimum time variation at arrival in the breeding area. This suggests that arrival date in the breeding area is under strong stabilizing selection, while there is room for more flexibility in autumn and arrival to the wintering area. The details of the fast non-stop flights remain to be elucidated, but the identification of the main stopover and wintering areas is important for future conservation work on this red-listed bird species

Great Snipes in sub-Saharan Africa : Seasonal patterns of abundance, moult and body mass in relation to age and sex

Great Snipes Gallinago media spend about eight months per year in sub-Saharan Africa, but most aspects of their non-breeding ecology are poorly known. We analysed the seasonal pattern of appearance, flight feather moult (primaries and secondaries), and body mass in relation to age and sex, based on 3,247 birds collected by hunters in 1990–2000 in Benin, Gabon, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Adult males arrived in Africa from mid-August with a suspended flight feather moult. Adult females on average arrived somewhat later, and were about one month behind in the progress of flight feather moult. The adults of both sexes resumed moult immediately upon arrival. Flight feather moult was generally completed by the end of November in males, and end of December in females. Juvenile Great Snipes arrived later than adults and did not moult their flight feathers. The temporal pattern of occurrence at the different study sites suggests a general relocation of snipes from West Africa to Central Africa in October-December. Body masses did not differ between age groups and were generally low from August to February (155–170 g in males and 165–185 g in females). Males apparently departed northwards from late March to late April, and the females about two weeks later. Prior to departure, body mass increased on average with about 50 g (in both sexes), suggesting a departure fuel load of 31–33% above lean body mass. In periods of high and stable mass increase, fuel was deposited at rates of about 0.8–1.3 g/d (or 0.5–0.8% of lean body mass/d). The heaviest males and females had a total body mass of 242 and 250 g, respectively. This kind of traditional natural history data forms an important complement to the new type of data emerging from modern tracking techniques

HYPERFINE INTERACTION PARAMETERS FOR 121Sb AND 127I IN (CH3)nSbX3-n (X = Cl, Br, I) (n = 0, 1, 2, 3)

Les variations de déplacement isomérique et d'interaction quadrupolaire au site de 12lSb dans la série de composés (CH3)nSbX3-n (n = 0, 1, 2, 3 et X = Cl, Br, I) sont discutées en fonction de la geométrie moléculaire, du changement d'ionicité des liaisons Sb-ligand et des interactions intermoléculaires ; ces interactions intermoléculaires ont été mises en évidence dans les composés SbI3 et CH3SbI2 par spectroscopie Mössbauer sur 127I. L'évolution des paramètres d'interaction hyperfine au site de 121Sb est interprétée dans l'approximation de Townes et Dailey ainsi qu'à l'aide d'un modèle de charges ponctuelles.The variations of the isomer shift and quadrupole interaction at the 121Sb nucleus in the series (CH3)nSbX3-n (n = 0, 1, 2, 3 and X = Cl, Br, I) are discussed in terms of the geometrical molecular parameters, the changes in ionicity of the Sb to ligand bonds and the varying degree of intermolecular interactions. The occurence of the latter interactions is clearly inferred from the 127I measurements in SbI3 and (CH3)SbI2. The evolution of the hyperfine interaction parameters at the 121Sb nucleus is discussed in the Townes and Dailey approximation and using a point charge model