Skip to content

GPS-tracked Northern Pintails Shifted Toward Daytime Flight During Spring Migration

Northern Pintail flying over wetland habitat
Research · Behaviour

GPS tracking of Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) wintering in northern Italy showed that the ducks gradually shifted toward more daytime flight as they moved northeast during spring migration. The study, published in April 2026, analysed 25 complete pre-breeding migrations from 22 birds tracked between 2018 and 2025.

The pintails were captured in the northern Venice lagoon and migrated toward breeding areas extending from northeastern Europe and western Russia to western Siberia. Most first stopovers were in the Great Hungarian Plain, while the area between Slovenia and Croatia formed a migration bottleneck. Some birds later bred in Hungary or Estonia, and many continued to Russia; individual tracks also included the Netherlands, France and Germany.

Across the migrations, the birds consistently favoured periods with low and decreasing sun altitude, but the proportion of daytime movement increased as they travelled north and east. The pattern also differed with habitat: migration was more strongly concentrated in darker conditions over forested biomes and more flexible in open landscapes.

Stopovers were generally longer in the first half of migration and became shorter and more frequent nearer the breeding grounds. Median track length was about 4,500 km and the median journey lasted around 85 days. Despite high speeds during active flight, the overall pace remained relatively slow. Active migration was also more likely as ground and water-surface temperatures rose, and the birds generally reached stopovers when surface temperatures were above freezing. The authors interpret this as continual adjustment to local conditions and the advancing spring thaw along the route.

Sources and image credit

  1. Cevenini, D., Baroni, D., Cecere, J. G., Panzarin, L., Basso, M., Franzoi, A., Spina, F., Pirrello, S., De Pascalis, F., Imperio, S., Pilastro, A., & Serra, L. (2026). Biotic and abiotic factors drive circadian migration patterns in Northern pintails across the Eurasian flyway. Movement Ecology, 14, 44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-026-00659-5Primary open-access research article published 29 April 2026. The study analysed 25 complete pre-breeding migrations from 22 GPS-tracked Northern Pintails tagged in northern Italy. Birds migrated across Eurasia toward breeding areas in northeastern Europe and western Russia/Siberia. The proportion of daytime migration increased along the route, habitat type affected circadian migration patterns, and stopovers became shorter and more frequent nearer the breeding grounds.

Image: Ganga Raj Sunuwar / Wikimedia Commons — Northern Pintail photographed in flight at Nagdaha, Nepal, 8 March 2025; representative image of the species, not one of the tracked study birds · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Behaviour

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Northern Pintail Anas acuta Explore species

Independent research and conservation news archive

Did you find this information useful?

Wildlife Vagabond is independently built and maintained. Voluntary support helps cover source verification, hosting and continued work on research and conservation news.

Support Wildlife Vagabond

The news archive will remain freely available.