Migration and staging patterns of the wryneck (Jynx Torquilla) at Eilat, Israel

The wryneck is an unusual representative of Palearctic Picidae in that it is a long-distance migrant, whose populations have declined across Europe in the last century. Israel is at the eastern extremes of the known wryneck migration routes in the spring, which are little studied. Hence, we studied the species migration patterns and staging at Eilat, the southern tip of Israel being a very important stopover site for many migratory bird species. During 28 springs and 25 autumn migration seasons in the years 1983-2010, a total of 588 wrynecks were trapped.The mean number of birds recorded per spring season was 18.32 (SE = 2.12) and only 3.00 ± 0.71 per autumn season. The analysis performed for spring passage showed that the mean proportion of juveniles to all birds to which ages were assigned was 48.9 ± 5.2%. Furthermore, we did not find any differences in the dates of ringing, wing length, body mass or body condition index of juvenile and adults. We retrapped 97 (18.9%) wrynecks during the spring. The average proportion retrapped per season was 18.3 ± 2.9% and the average stopover was 4.8 ± 0.4 days. Recaptured birds were in better body condition than at first capture, and the body condition index gained significantly during their stay at the stopover site. The low conservation priority accorded to these habitats - and ignored in spite of many studies from the reagion - highlights the importance of the preservation of priority areas such that avian and other migrations can continue with minimal human impact.