Geographical Variation in Waders

The migratory habits and migration schedules of waders can better be understood by analyzing their measurements. Therefore, a clear characterization of breeding populations and the proper statistical tools is needed. In this text the morphometrical variation of the following species was studied with multivariate statistics: Ringed Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Eurasian Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Red Knot, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Redshank and Ruddy Turnstone. The taxonomy of most species was revised. The Black-tailed Godwit was split into two species. The same was done with the Whimbrel. Four new subspecies were described in, respectively, the Grey Plover (Wrangel Island), the Purple Sandpiper (Hudson Bay) and the Bar-tailed Godwit (Taymyr, Anadyr). The characteristics of the various subspecies and/or populations were quantified. Outside the breeding areas these characteristics can be helpful in producing estimates of the population composition of migrating and wintering populations throughout the world. It is of interest for all those people handling waders, whether in the museum or in the field when trapping. It is also interesting for taxonomical researchers and workers dealing with breeding studies. People studying other species than waders can also use this book, since they can construct their own databases and produce their own predictions with the POSCON programs enclosed on disk.

Table of Contents:
1 Introduction.- Skin collections.- The phylogeography of waders.- Geographical variation, glaciations, and interstadials.- The inheritance of morphometric characters.- Geographical variation and taxonomy.- Phylogenetics.- 2 Material and methods.- The selected species.- Selecting breeding birds.- The measured variables.- Reliability and reproducibility of measurements.- Statistical analysis of the data.- The distinction of breeding populations.- Construction of a typology.- The difference between ‘types’ and breeding populations.- Predicting geographical breeding origins.- The accuracy of predictions.- The exclusivity of predictions.- Variable selection for future use.- 3 introduction to the species’ accounts.- General information.- The breeding range.- Geographical variation.- Wing structure.- 4 Ringed Plover — Charadrius hiaticula and Semipalmated Plover — Charadrius semipalmatus.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 5 Eurasian Golden Plover — Pluvialis apricaria.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 6 Grey Plover — Pluvialis squatarola.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 7 Red Knot — Calidris canutus.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 8 Sanderling — Calidris alba.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 9 Curlew Sandpiper — Calidris ferruginea.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Body mass.-Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 10 Purple Sandpiper — Calidris maritima.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 11 Dunlin — Calidris alpina.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 12 Black-tailed Godwit — Limosa limosa.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Discussion.- Summary.- 13 Bar-tailed Godwit — Limosa lapponica.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 14 Whimbrel — Numenius phaeopus.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 15 Eurasian Curlew — Numenius arquata.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 16 Redshank — Tringa totanus.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Contact zones.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 17 Ruddy Turnstone — Arenaria interpres.- Morphometrical differentiation.- Prediction of breeding origin.- Body mass.- Primary moult.- Discussion.- Summary.- 18 General discussion.- Variation among and within species.- Have long-distance migrants short and small wings?.- Morphometrics in relation to sexual size dimorphism.- Skewed sex-ratios on the breeding grounds.- Estimating the composition of wader populations.- Morphometrics and DNA-studies.- Geographical isolation in low arctic Canada.- Curlew species in Kazakhstan and S Russia.- Which measurements ought to be included in morphometric studies?.- 19 References.- Annex 1. Summary ofmorphometric data.- Annex 2. Lengths of primaries in relation to maximum wing lengths.- Annex 3. POSCON and the prediction of a bird’s breeding origin or sex.- I — The POSCON user manual.- II — the samples of breeding populations of waders.

Review :
`...This is an important modern study of the geographical variation in birds in general and waders in particular. It is therefore of great interest to systematic ornithologists and to all those field ornithologists involved in the ringing and measuring of waders during migration or on the wintering grounds., especially to those workers analysisng the large data sets gathered every year. Hopefully, this book will encourage eco-ethologists to undertake comparative studies of those conspesific wader populations which the authors have distinguished taxonomically.' Ethology, 106(1):1-104 (2000) `This is an impressive book in more ways than one. ... Should you buy this book? If you have any interest in waders then my answer would be an emphatic yes. ... It is an excellent book.' Ibis, 142 (2000)