Short distance migrants travel as far as long distance migrants in lesser black-backed gulls Larus fuscus

Migration strategies differ greatly among and within avian populations. The associated trade-offs and fitness consequences of diverse strategies and how they persist are pertinent questions in migration research. Migration is a costly endeavour, presumably compensated for by better survival conditions in the non-breeding area. One way to assess the cost of alternative strategies is to investigate the investment in movement across the entire annual cycle, an assessment made increasingly feasible with improvements in tracking technology. Our study focuses on lesser black-backed gulls, generalist seabirds that exploit a broad range of resources, exhibit diverse migration strategies and have potentially altered migration strategies in response to human activities and climate change. We used GPS tracking to quantify lesser black-backed gulls’ movement throughout their annual cycle and compare trade-offs among four migration strategies. The annual cumulative distance travelled by long distanc...