Speed of autumn migration of the Blue Tit ( Parus caeruleus ) along the eastern and southern Baltic coast

Abstract

An analysis of the speed of autumn migration was based on 315 ringing recoveries of Blue Tits caught between 1963-1999 at 6 ringing stations along the south-eastern and southern Baltic coast. It was found that among passerines the Blue Tit is the slowest European migrant (median value - 25.8 km/day, average - 28.4 km/day), with a very low (intra- and interpopulation) variation of migration speed. No differences in migration speed were found between individuals of different age and sex and among years of different intensities of movements. The migration speeds of the Blue Tit and the Great Tit ( Parus major ) in different years correlated.