Migratory bird distributions are inherently dynamic and vary with seasons, but are also increasingly influenced by climate and land-use changes. Understanding these shifts is crucial for interpreting ecosystem dynamics and guiding future conservation efforts. In this study, we analysed 187,779 resightings (1985–2021) of 5,120 colour-banded Common Cranes (Grus grus), originating from 8 northern European countries, to examine long-term spatiotemporal distribution dynamics along the Western and Central European flyways. Our results show that the flyway use has remained largely consistent with the previous studies: most cranes follow the Western European flyway, wintering in France and Spain, whilst a smaller proportion follow the Central European flyway, wintering in Hungary and occasionally reaching Israel and North Africa. However, we also observed a pronounced northward shift in wintering distribution over the past 4 decades. At the same time, breeding distributions showed a slight southward expansion, potentially reflecting both population growth and changes in marking effort. Our results demonstrate the importance of long-term monitoring in detecting range shifts and highlight the need for adaptive conservation planning in the face of accelerating climate and land-use change.

Animal movements contribute to the spread of infectious diseases and are driven in part by environmental conditions. We investigated the links among the environment, animal movement, and infectious disease dynamics in waterfowl, which are among the primary wildlife hosts of avian influenza viruses. By combining telemetry data on 4606 individuals from 26 waterfowl species with data on land cover, weather, and vegetation, we found that waterfowl moved less in areas of higher land cover heterogeneity and higher human population density. Moreover, predicted waterfowl movement distances were weakly but positively correlated with distances between detections of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild waterfowl, suggesting that environmental conditions might contribute to the spread of this disease via their effects on bird movements. By considering wildlife movements alongside other drivers of infectious disease dynamics, such as livestock production and human mobility, we move closer to predicting outbreaks and informing interventions.

In recent years the number of breeding Whooper Swans in Latvia and Estonia combined has increased from one pair in 1973 to 900-1,200 pairs in 2021, with a similar growth rate in both countries. Sixty-nine percent of confirmed Latvian breeding sites were located in western Latvia during 2018-2021, a stronghold for the species, while in Estonia breeding sites were more widely distributed across the country. In Estonia, Whooper Swans preferred bogs, lakes and coastal waters whereas the vast majority of pairs in Latvia occurred on fish-pond complexes, natural lakes and ponds created by the Eurasian Beaver Castorfiber ("beaver dams").

This study aims to determine the level of movement of individuals between the Icelandic and Northwest Mainland European (NWME) Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus populations, and to assess the extent to which this interchange affects total population estimates. Ringing, resighting and recovery data for Whooper Swans ringed across Europe since the early 1900s were compiled from the EURING Data Bank, national ringing schemes and individual ringers. Birds were assigned to the biogeographical population (Icelandic or NWME) in which they were ringed. Of >18 000 Whooper Swans ringed in 17 European countries, 172 individuals (0.94%) were later found outside the nominal range of their assigned biogeographical population. The proportion of ringed swans from the Icelandic population that were subsequently found ‘out of range’ did not differ significantly from the proportion recorded for the NWME population, indicating no directional bias in population interchange. Population switching by Whooper Swans in western Europe occurs consistently, but currently at very low levels. Our results reinforce the view that such levels of population interchange are unlikely to have caused major inaccuracies or biases in the total numbers recorded during the coordinated censuses used to estimate population size.

The Arctic is entering a new ecological state, with alarming consequences for humanity. Animal-borne sensors offer a window into these changes. Although substantial animal tracking data from the Arctic and subarctic exist, most are difficult to discover and access. Here, we present the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), a growing collection of more than 200 standardized terrestrial and marine animal tracking studies from 1991 to the present. The AAMA supports public data discovery, preserves fundamental baseline data for the future, and facilitates efficient, collaborative data analysis. With AAMA-based case studies, we document climatic influences on the migration phenology of eagles, geographic differences in the adaptive response of caribou reproductive phenology to climate change, and species- specific changes in terrestrial mammal movement rates in response to increasing temperature.

Previous studies on Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus cygnets hatched in Latvia have shown that c. 99% leave the country each year to moult elsewhere in their 2nd to 6th calendar years. To reveal the exact moulting sites, in 2016 ten cygnets were fitted with 91g solar-powered neck-collar-mounted GPS-GSM loggers. Moulting sites were recorded for four individuals in their 2nd calendar year, and for two of these birds in their 3rd calendar year; four birds in total. All of these moulted at sites in Russia; one was in the Republic of Karelia and three were in the Arkhangelsk Region. The mean average straight-line distance between the hatching and moulting sites was 1,451 km (range = 1,038-2,524 km). Although the data were less comprehensive, another tracked swan probably moulted in the western part of the White Sea in the Republic of Karelia. The conservation of these moulting sites is essential for the Latvian Whooper Swans to thrive.

The aim of this study was to fill knowledge gaps regarding occurrence, origin and hunting of the Taiga Bean Goose Anser fabalis fabalis in Latvia.Field observations during the period 1 January 2011 -20 May 2019 showed that up to at least 550 individuals from the central sub-population made stop-overs in westernmost Latvia in early spring, usually during the last ten days of February.Up to at least 1750 individuals from the eastern sub-population arrived about one month later and made stop-overs in eastern Latvia.Few individuals were reported staging in autumn.A hunting bag study, where hunters submitted images of bean geese they had shot, was launched in 2014.The proportion of the hunted geese reported by images was low in the first two years, but ranged from 9.5 to 12.4% during the following years.Based on this bag study, the number of Taiga Bean Geese hunted annually in the years 2014 -2018 was estimated to be 0 -20 birds.

Abstract Mute swan Cygnus olor is the most abundant breeding swan species in Rīga and Latvia. Since manmade habitats are the preferred breeding habitats of this species - Cygnus olor is of particular interest in studies of urban biodiversity. The latest records show that 30-40 pairs breed annually in Rīga, 400-700 individuals migrate through the area, and 120-150 individuals stay over winter. The goal of our study was to determine the genetic variation of the mute swan population in Rīga. Blood samples were collected from 47 individual birds found in different sites in Rīga or elsewhere in Latvia. The universal retrotransposon based iPBS markers were used to estimate diversity. Three primers (2076, 2080, and 2415) amplified 64 DNA fragments; of these 18 (28%) were polymorphic. The average diversity index based on polymorphic markers for the studied individuals was 0.425. All individuals, with the exception of two pairs of individuals, could be separated by means of these markers. The grouping of individuals was not be associated with their sampling location, gender and age. The genetic diversity indexes were compared between these groups. The breeding individuals (including their cygnets) had bands not showing variation among breeding birds as compared to the not breeding ones.

A review of the literature on Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus breeding in the Baltic states indicates that the swans are recolonising areas where they once bred historically. In recent years, the number of breeding birds has increased from two pairs in 1973 to 600–670 pairs in 2013, though the growth rate has slowed in Latvia, and maybe also in Estonia and Lithuania. There was a clear latitudinal difference in the choice of breeding habitats: in Estonia, the Whooper Swans preferred bogs, lakes and coastal waters, while the vast majority of all pairs in Latvia and Lithuania were found in fishpond complexes and wetlands associated with beaver dams.

This study describes the population status, development, distribution and habitat choice of breeding Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus breeding in Latvia. The breeding population increased from one breeding pair in 1973 to c. 260 pairs in 2009. The first pair of Whooper Swans nested in the western part of the country, and this area has remained a stronghold for the species within Latvia, supporting 86% of 256 sites where breeding was confirmed during the years 2000–2009, with 54% of pairs found in the districts of Liepaja, Talsi and Kuldiga. Most breeding sites were associated with small water-bodies: 77% were at artificial ponds and 17% at beaver dams. Few nests were found in lakes, mires, bogs and gravel pits. Results are discussed in relation to the increase in Whooper Swan numbers in other parts of Europe.

Non-breeding Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus were recorded moulting for the first time in Latvia in 1989, in Estonia in 1993 and in Lithuania in 1997. Moulting has been recorded at 13 sites, three in Estonia and five each in Latvia and Lithuania, but not at all in South Sweden. The total number of moulting non-breeders increased from at least 83 birds in 2003 to at least 187 birds in 2012. The majority of the marked birds found moulting as non-breeders in the Baltic States usually originated from moulting sites within 25 km, the others from countries, including Germany and Poland, situated to the south of the moulting site. Distances between sites of hatching or breeding and moulting for these two groups ranged 0–81 km and 191–836 km, respectively. When caught for ringing, 40% were 2nd calendar year birds, the others older. Life-histories of Whooper Swans marked as moulters, or found moulting, in the Baltic States were used to discuss the lack of known moulting sites in South Sweden.

This study is the first to demonstrate moult migration in the Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. Of cygnets hatched in Latvia and known to be alive about 99% left the country to moult somewhere else in their 2nd-6th calendar year. One-sixth of these were re-sighted in Finland during moult migration; these were solely from western Latvia. Moulting sites were recorded for nine individuals, of which seven had been marked with neck collars and two had satellite transmitters. Five of these nine swans moulted in Latvia, one in Estonia and three in the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia. Distances between sites of ringing and moulting varied between 0 and 1,455 km. All individuals were recorded moulting as two-or three-year old birds. Those moulting in Russia left Latvia/Estonia before 20 June and returned after mid September.

Two closely related swan species, the mute swan Cygnus olor and the whooper swan Cygnus cygnus , were formerly allopatric throughout their breeding ranges, but during the last decades a sympatric distribution has become characteristic of these species in the Baltic Sea region. The whooper swan has gradually replaced the mute swan in many suitable habitats in Lithuania and Latvia. Marked differences in the genetic population structure of both species may partially explain the dominance of the whooper swan, as genetic population divergence can be a major factor affecting inter-specific competition. A homogenous genetic population structure was defined for mute swans breeding in Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Belarus. Breeding mute swans in this region are mostly of naturalised origin. A diverse population genetic structure characterizes whooper swans breeding in Lithuania and Latvia.

Spectacular increases in range and numbers of some swan and goose species around the Baltic Sea have resulted in more contacts between species and facilitated mixed breeding. Records of mixed breeding and observations during the non-breeding season of mixed families, mixed pairs and hybrids in which at least one of the parent species was a swan were compiled for Sweden, Finland, Leningrad and Kaliningrad Regions of Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany and Denmark. There were twelve records of mixed breeding, nine of Mute Swan × Whooper Swan and one each of Mute Swan × Greylag Goose, Mute Swan × Greater Canada Goose and Whooper Swan × Bewick’s Swan. Excluding the two cases involving a goose and two cases involving swans with captive background, there were eight breeding records in the wild. Seven of these can be explained by range expansions. The exception was a case where the identification of the male was unsure.