How Do Genes Allow Migratory Birds To Travel With Such Precision?

Abstract information

Migratory birds can travel thousands of kilometers with great precision. In this video, MIRIAM LIEDVOGEL explores the genetic characteristics that enable this. Focusing on blackcaps because of the different types of migratory behavior that they exhibit, Liedvogel employs geolocator technology to track birds’ movements in their natural habitat. Among other things, the research demonstrates that differing migratory orientation can be linked to variation in the individual genome. Providing insight into behavioral variability and sensory biology the research also helps to explain how populations adapt to changing ecological conditions and can therefore contribute to the optimization of conservation measures.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10978

Researcher

Miriam Liedvogel is Director of the Institute of Avian Research at Vogelwarte Helgoland and Professor of Ornithology at Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg. Until 2022 she also continues as leader of her Max Planck Research Group on Behavioural Genomics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology. Liedvogel held a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford Universtiy, UK, and a Feodor Lynen Fellowship for research at Lund University, Sweden. Liedvogel’s research interests include bird migration, evolution, behavioral genomics and the molecular mechanisms of animal orientation and navigation. As a principal investigator, Liedvogel’s research has been supported by various funding schemes, e.g. Max Planck Society, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the German Research Foundation (DFG), European Commission (FP7), German Academic Exchange Scheme (DAAD). She has received several awards and fellowships, for instance the JED Williams Medal.

Institution information

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology

The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology consists of three departments: Evolutionary Genetics, Evolutionary Theory, and Microbial Population Biology. Basic research is conducted here to explain fundamental processes in evolutionary biology. These include ecological adaptations, the origin of sexuality or the evolution of cooperativity. The range of research work includes ecological, organismal, molecular and theoretical approaches.

Original Publication

The Evolutionary History and Genomics of European Blackcap Migration

Kira E. Delmore

,

Juan Carlos Illera

,

Javier Pérez‐Tris

,

Gernot Segelbacher

,

Juan S. Lugo Ramos

,

Published in 2020

Individual Variability and Versatility in an Eco-Evolutionary Model of Avian Migration

Kira E. Delmore

,

Benjamin M. Van Doren

,

Greg J. Conway

,

Teja Curk

,

Tania Garrido-Garduño

,

Published in 2020