Departing With the Wind: Spring Migration Timing in Brent Geese From Their Most Important Staging and Wintering Site, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site

Brent geese fine-tune their spring migration departure from the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site by integrating local wind conditions and atmospheric pressure, exploiting transient atmospheric opportunities to optimize migratory timing. The study reveals that tailwind assistance increases departure probability by 20% per additional m/s, while higher humidity reduces it, with wind selectivity declining over the season as migratory urgency grows. Using GPS tracking data from 43 individuals across seven seasons (2015–2024) and hourly meteorological data, researchers applied Cox proportional hazards models to analyze 18,036 hourly risk intervals. This demonstrates that Brent geese balance environmental cues with migration urgency, highlighting potential vulnerability to climate-driven shifts in North Atlantic wind regimes.

Theurich, N., Garthe, S., Jiguet, F., Bocher, P., & Schwemmer, P. (2026). Departing With the Wind: Spring Migration Timing in Brent Geese From Their Most Important Staging and Wintering Site, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. Ecology and Evolution, 16(8). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.74119