Ecology and Evolution of New World Bird Migration
Research
This work stemmed from my dissertation research in Costa Rica, where I found a surprising degree of intra-tropical and altitudinal migration in presumably sedentary tropical birds. From this discovery, Gary Stiles and I developed the hypothesis that small-scale migration of birds within the tropics led to the evolution of long-distance migration out of the tropics. Terry Chesser and I tested this hypothesis, confirming some of its predictions. My current work on migration is being done in collaboration with Alex Jahn in Bolivia and Brazil. We are focusing on partial migrants – species in which some individuals migrate and others do not. Our short-term goal is to unravel the proximate mechanisms that determine which individuals of a species are permanent residents at a site and which migrate away from teh site after the breeding season. Our long-term goal is to understand the evolution of long-distance migration, based on the assumption that partial migration is an intermediate evolutionary stage between migratory and non-migratory behaviors. A second long-term goal is to build a network of South American ornithologists to study austral migration (migration within South America). Austral migrants comprise the third-largest set of migratory birds worldwide and yet are practically unknown.
Related Sites
Publications on Bird Migration
For pdf copies, click on "Publications" at left- Faaborg, J., A. D. Anders, K. L. Bildstein, K. M. Duggger, S. A.
Gauthreaux, P. Heglund, K. A. Hobson, R. T. Holmes, A. E. Jahn, D. H.
Johnson, S. C. Latta, D. J. Levey, P. P. Marra, C. L. Merkord, E.
Nol, S. I. Rothstein, T. S. Sillett, T. W. Sherry, F. R. Thompson III,
and N. Warnock. Managing migratory birds in the New World: Do we
know enough? Ecological
Applications (in press)
- Faaborg, J., R. T. Holmes, A. D. Anders, K. L. Bildstein, K. M.
Duggger, S. A.
Gauthreaux, K. A. Hobson, A. E. Jahn, D. H.
Johnson, S. C. Latta, D. J. Levey, P. P. Marra, C. L. Merkord, E.
Nol,
S. I. Rothstein, T. S. Sillett, T. W. Sherry, F. R. Thompson III, and
N. Warnock. Recent advances in understanding New World bird
migration systems. Ecological
Monographs (in press)
- Jahn, A. E., D. J. Levey, J. E. Johnson, A. M. Mamani, and S. E. Davis. 2006. Hacia una interpretación mecánica de la migración de aves en Sudamérica. (Towards a mechanistic interpretation of bird migration in South America) El Hornero 21:99-108
- Levey, D. J. Adaptations to two worlds. 2005. In Birds of Two Worlds: The Ecology and Evolution of Migration. R. Greenberg and P. P. Marra, eds. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, MD
- Jahn, A. E., D. J. Levey, and K. G. Smith. 2004. Reflections across hemispheres: Austral migration is key to a system-wide approach to New World bird migration. Auk 121:1005-1013 Chesser, R. T. and D. J. Levey. 1998. Diet, habitat, and migration revisited: Austral migrants and the evolution of migration in New World birds. American Naturalist 152:311-319.
- Levey, D. J. and F. G. Stiles. 1995. Variabilidad de recursos, hábitat, y movimientos estracionales en aves Neotropicales: Implicaciones para la evolución de la migración a larga distancia. Bird Conservation International 4:109-115.
- Levey, D. J. and F. G. Stiles. 1992. Evolutionary precursors of long-distance migration: resource availability and movement patterns in Neotropical landbirds. American Naturalist 140:447-476.
- Levey, D. J. 1994. Why we should adopt a broader view of Neotropical migrants. Auk 111:233-236.
- Levey, D. J. 1988. Spatial and temporal variation in Costa Rican fruit and fruit-eating bird abundance. Ecological Monographs 58:251-270.
