Avian louse flies (Hippoboscidae: Ornithomyinae) are blood-feeding parasites with largely unexplored vector potential, although they have been implicated in the transmission of pathogens of medical and veterinary relevance, such as West-Nile virus, Babesia and Trypanosoma species. We screened 253 specimens of nine Ornithomyinae species for selected bacteria (Anaplasma, Rickettsia, Bartonella, Borrelia, and Ehrlichia spp.) as well as for trypanosomes and piroplasms. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was detected in a single Ornithomya avicularia specimen, and Haematospirillum jordaniae was identified in three Ornithomya fringillina individuals from the same location, representing the first report of these bacteria in avian louse flies. In addition, eight different Trypanosoma sequences were obtained, belonging to the T. corvi/culicavium and T. bennetti groups. Unexpectedly, a sequence resembling T. theileri was recovered from an Ornithoica turdi specimen. Our findings suggest that the role of louse flies in transmitting the investigated bacterial pathogens is likely minimal, but their involvement in the ecology of Trypanosoma species warrants further study. Consistent with previous work, we propose that louse flies could serve as valuable sentinels for monitoring pathogens in wild bird populations.

Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity, and migratory animals are particularly vulnerable, due partly to their reliance upon good resource availability across a network of sites at specific times. Migrants perform vital ecosystem functions, transferring significant resources across large spatial scales, but the impacts of climate change on the ability of individuals to complete these journeys are poorly studied. Collecting the large-scale and long-term data on the condition of individuals during migration to address this is challenging, but in migratory birds, we have a model system for which a large network of ringers (banders) collect individual data on body size and mass, enabling variation in body condition to be tracked. We used long-term ringing data on 33 Afro-Palearctic migratory bird species at 286 sites across Europe to demonstrate a large-scale decrease in migratory fuel loads during autumn over the last 40 years, but not in spring. Declines were strongest across southern Europe and linked to rising temperatures. The timing of autumn fuelling has also shifted, occurring earlier at northern sites and later at southern sites. These relationships varied depending on diet and breeding cycle length. Obligate insectivores were more constrained by temperature in the timing and magnitude of fuelling than frugivores. Species with short breeding cycles departed later at southern sites in warmer years, likely reflecting an extended breeding season. Altogether, these latitudinally varying findings suggest a trade-off between maximising productivity or maximising adult survival as climate drives changing constraints on breeding season length and resource availability. Similar climate-induced trade-offs may be happening in other migratory taxa with the potential to influence population trends.

Synchronous fluctuations in species' abundance are influenced by synchrony in underlying rates of productivity and survival. However, it remains unclear how rate synchrony varies in space and time, contributes to abundance synchrony, and differs among species. Using long-term annual count (number of adults captured), adult survival and productivity (number of juveniles captured per adult) data for breeding land-birds at ringing sites across Europe, we show that synchrony is strongest and largest scale in productivity and weakest and smallest scale in counts. However, counts fluctuate more synchronously with survival than they do with productivity. These patterns hold for species which do not migrate or only migrate within Europe (European-residents) and those migrating to sub-Saharan Africa (subSaharan-migrants), but the periodicity of productivity and survival synchrony is longer in European-residents than in subSaharan-migrants. This suggests that survival and productivity synchrony may interact to weaken abundance fluctuations but are influenced by environmental drivers operating over differing timescales in European-resident and subSaharan-migrant species.

Phenological plasticity-the ability of organisms to adjust the timing of life-history events in response to environmental variability-is the primary adaptive mechanism for many organisms to changing seasonality (e.g., earlier spring). By enabling alignment between life-history events and resource availability, it helps to maintain fitness despite changing environmental conditions. Theory predicts that phenological plasticity should vary among populations because of heterogeneity in environmental variability, and among species because of differences in life-history (e.g., migration distance) and phylogenetic constraints. However, comprehensive, multi-species, and cross-population analyses of phenological plasticity remain scarce. Here, we address this gap by using a unique, four-decade dataset from Europe-wide monitoring of common songbirds. Our approach reveals how variation in phenological plasticity is structured according to site temperature properties, both within and across species. We found that long-distance migrants generally exhibit lower plasticity than residents or short-distance migrants, highlighting a fundamental constraint tied to migration strategy. Within species, populations inhabiting sites with predictable temperature profiles showed slightly stronger plastic responses, particularly among single-brooded species and those adapted to warmer breeding conditions. Notably, populations from the fastest-warming regions demonstrated marginally greater plasticity, regardless of other ecological traits, suggesting a global tendency for increased responsiveness in rapidly changing climates. These findings confirm and extend patterns previously observed at smaller scales, offering a more nuanced understanding of how local temperature conditions drive phenological plasticity. By demonstrating that the interplay between local environmental conditions and life-history traits underpins variation in breeding phenological responses, our study refines the current framework for predicting adaptive potential across populations and species under climate change.

ABSTRACTAimOngoing climate changes represent a major determinant of demographic processes in many organisms worldwide. Birds, and especially long‐distance migrants, are particularly sensitive to such changes. To better understand these impacts on long‐distance migrants' breeding productivity, we tested three hypotheses focused on (i) the shape of the relationships with different climate variables, including previously rarely tested quadratic responses, and on regional differences in these relationships predicted by (ii) mean climatic conditions and (iii) by the rate of climate change in respective regions ranging from Spain to Finland.LocationEurope.Time Period2004–2021.Major Taxa StudiedLong‐distance migratory passerine birds.MethodsWe calculated breeding productivity from constant effort ringing sites from 11 European countries covering 34° of latitude, and extracted temperature‐ and precipitation‐related climate variables from E‐OBS and NASA MODIS datasets. To test our hypotheses, we fitted GLMM and Bayesian meta‐analytic models.ResultsWe revealed hump‐shaped responses of productivity to temperature, growing degree‐days, green‐up onset date, and precipitation anomaly, and negative responses to intense and prolonged rains across the regions. The effects of March temperature and April growing degree‐days were more negative in cold than in warm regions, except for the region with the highest accumulated heat, whereas increasing June precipitation anomalies were associated with higher productivity in both dry and wet regions. Productivity responses to climate were unrelated to the rate of climate warming.Main ConclusionsThe influence of climate on bird productivity proved to be frequently nonlinear, as expected by ecological theory. The rate of climate change is less important than regional interannual variability in climate (which is predicted to increase), but this may change with the progression of climate change in the future. Productivity declines in long‐distance migratory songbirds are particularly expected if out‐of‐norm water excess increases in frequency or strength.

AbstractBackgroundReports on adultHyalommaticks in certain regions of the Carpathian Basin date back to the 19thcentury. These ticks were thought to emerge from nymphs dropping from birds, then molting to adults. Although the role of migratory birds in carrying ticks of this genus is known from all parts of Europe, in most countries no contemporaneous multiregional surveillance of bird-associated ticks was reported which could allow the recognition of hotspots in this context.MethodsIxodid ticks were collected from birds at seven ringing stations in Hungary, including both the spring and autumn migration period in 2022.IxodesandHaemaphysalisspecies were identified morphologically, whereasHyalommaspecies molecularly.ResultsFrom 38 passeriform bird species 957 ixodid ticks were collected. The majority of developmental stages were nymphs (n=588), but 353 larvae and 16 females were also present. On most birds (n=381) only a single tick was found and the maximum number of ticks removed from the same bird was 30. Tick species were identified asIxodes ricinus(n=598),Ixodes frontalis(n=18),Ixodes lividus(n=6),Haemaphysalis concinna(n=322), andD. reticulatus(n=1). All twelveHyalommasp. ticks (11 engorged nymphs and an unengorged larva) were identified asHyalomma rufipesbased on three mitochondrial markers. This species was only found in the Transdanubian region and along its southeastern border. The Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) and the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) were the two main hosts ofI. ricinusandI. frontalis, whereasH. concinnawas almost exclusively collected form long-distance migrants. The predominant hosts ofH. rufipeswere reed-associated bird species, the Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) and the Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus), both harboring these ticks at the end of June (i.e., the nesting period) in southwestern Hungary.ConclusionsThis study provides ornithological explanation for the regional, century-long presence of adultHyalommaticks under continental climate in the Transdanubian Region of the Carpathian Basin. More importantly, the autochthonous occurrence of aH. rufipespopulation was revealed for the first time in Europe, based on the following observations: (1) the bird species infested withH. rufipesare not known to migrate during their nesting period; (2) one larva was not yet engorged; (3) the larva and the nymphs must have belonged to different local generations; and (4) allH. rufipesfound in the relevant location were identical in their haplotypes based on three maternally inherited mitochondrial markers, probably reflecting founder effect. This study also demonstrated that the species of ticks carried by birds were significantly different between collection sites even within a geographically short distance (200 km). Therefore, within a country multiregional monitoring is inevitable to assess the overall epidemiological significance of migratory birds in importing exotic ticks, and also in maintaining newly established tick species.

Reports on adult Hyalomma ticks in certain regions of the Carpathian Basin date back to the 19th century. These ticks were thought to emerge from nymphs dropping from birds, then molting to adults. Although the role of migratory birds in carrying ticks of this genus is known from all parts of Europe, in most countries no contemporaneous multiregional surveillance of bird-associated ticks was reported which could allow the recognition of hotspots in this context. From 38 passeriform bird species 956 ixodid ticks were collected at seven locations in Hungary. Tick species were identified as Ixodes ricinus (n = 598), Ixodes frontalis (n = 18), Ixodes lividus (n = 6), Haemaphysalis concinna (n = 321), and D. reticulatus (n = 1). All 12 Hyalomma sp. ticks (11 engorged nymphs and 1 unengorged larva) were identified as H. rufipes based on three mitochondrial markers. This species was only found in the Transdanubian region and along its southeastern border. The Common Blackbird and the European Robin were the two main hosts of I. ricinus and I. frontalis, whereas H. concinna was almost exclusively collected form long-distance migrants. The predominant hosts of H. rufipes were reed-associated bird species, the Sedge Warbler and the Bearded Reedling, both in their nesting period. This study provides ornithological explanation for the regional, century-long presence of adult Hyalomma ticks under continental climate in the Transdanubian Region of the Carpathian Basin. More importantly, the autochthonous occurrence of a H. rufipes population was revealed for the first time in Europe, based on the following observations: (1) the bird species infested with H. rufipes are not known to migrate during their nesting period; (2) one larva was not yet engorged; (3) the larva and the nymphs must have belonged to different local generations; and (4) all H. rufipes found in the relevant location were identical in their haplotypes based on three maternally inherited mitochondrial markers, probably reflecting founder effect. This study also demonstrated regional and temporal differences in tick species carried by birds.

This study aimed to monitor the demographic changes of some closely related species based on bird ringing data from the CES (Constant Effort Sites) program in Hungary between 2007 and 2018, and to explore the reasons for these demographic changes. The CES program tracks breeding bird populations with standard methods. The studied species breeding in Hungary were from genera Sylvia, Curruca, and Phylloscopus. Among these species, the trends of some forest birds, like Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), Lesser Whitethroat (Curruca curruca), Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and Willow Warbler (Ph. trochilus) showed no substantial changes, and one of the open-habitat species, the Barred Warbler (Curruca nisoria) - a long distant migrant - showed decreasing trends. The Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin) - a trans-Saharan migrant but forest dweller - also experienced population declines. Short-distance migrants maintained stable populations. Common Whitethroat productivity displayed an increasing trend to compensate for population decline. Upon examining the Eurasian Blackcap, this study detected a strong relationship between the number of adult birds, productivity, and the number of adults captured the following year.

Abstract In 2021, the European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) became the ‘Bird of The Year’ in Hungary, which makes it very timely to summarise our knowledge about the status of the species in the country and to emphasise conservation priorities. In Hungary, the species is a common, widespread breeder of dry roadside grass strips, abandoned ploughlands, bushy slopes and vineyards. It is most likely in the arid habitats between the Danube and Tisza and east of the Tisza. The largest populations also breed in these regions. The Hungarian population was estimated at 195,000–210,000 pairs between 2014 and 2018. The breeding population halved between 1999 and 2018, though it was stable until 2004. The breeding period begins from late March to early April and lasts until the end of July. First males arrive in February, and spring migration peaks in early March. Autumn migration peaks in late September. Few may overwinter. The number of birds ringed in Hungary since 1951 is 13,484, of which 1,401 were juvenile. Three birds ringed in Hungary were found abroad (Italy 2, Greece 1), and two specimens marked abroad (Croatia, Italy) were found in Hungary. The oldest bird was recaptured 1679 days after its ringing day in Hungary. The average body mass of juveniles increased significantly for both sexes by an average of 0.9 grams over 22 years. In the case of all age and sex groups, the average body mass increased during the autumn season. The average wing length of adults also increased during the autumn. The arrival time of either sex during spring migration did not change significantly between 1999 and 2020. In the case of all age and sex groups, the arrival time shifted later in autumn migration. The European Stonechat belongs to the red list category Near Threatened in Hungary.

Apparent survival rate is an important factor affecting the temporal changes of small passerine species. The aim of this study was to obtain information about the apparent survival and capture probabilities of some passerines breeding in Hungary. Data from 11,327 individuals come from a constant effort ringing scheme, using 12 ringing sites spread over Hungary, spanning 14 years (2004 to 2017). According to the best standard Cormack-Jolly-Seber model, apparent survival of first-year Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita was found to be significantly lower than adult survival, but the apparent survival showed no difference between sexes. Male Eurasian Blackcap and Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio had significantly higher capture probabilities than females in Hungary. The survival and capture probabilities of age and sex groups did not differ significantly for Barred Warbler S. nisoria and Lesser Whitethroat S. curruca. Time-dependent models were included in the analysis in all cases, but they always ranked lower than time-independent models. The capture rates of three species (Eurasian Blackcap, Barred Warbler, Common Chiffchaff) were male-biased in Hungary. Our study supports previous suggestions that female-biased mortality may be the most important explanation for male-biased adult sex ratios in birds.

Abstract The Black-winged Stilt was the bird of the year in Hungary in 2019. The population of the species increased from 20–25 breeding pairs to 550–680 pairs from 1980s to the present. 75–85% of the Hungarian population bred on effluent pools for pigs and settling pools at sugar beet factories in the first half of 1990s. There were significantly more breeding pairs in Hungary in 1999 compared to previous years, and finally 871 breeding pairs of Black-winged Stilts were documented in 2000 and the Hungarian population was estimated at 940–960 pairs. There were 550–680 breeding pairs in Hungary between 2015 and 2017. Significantly more clutches had more than five eggs in the sampled colonies during the influx in 2000 than in the egg collections before 1971 or in the sampled colony in 2008 as well. First arrivals reached Hungary between 5 and 20 March (median: 15 March) between 2005 and 2019. These arrival dates fall approximately a month earlier than the former arrival dates in mid-April during the 1980s. 470 Black-winged Stilts were observed in a single flock during post-breeding dispersal, this flock was the largest ever documented in Hungary. Stilts left Hungary by the first half of September in the 1980s, and in contrast, they left Hungary between 27 August and 4 January (median: 19 October) between 2005 and 2019. Recently, the most departure dates fall one and a half to three months later compared to the departure dates in the 1980s. Black-winged Stilts marked in Hungary disperse in the Carpathian Basin during their post-fledging/post-breeding dispersal. Based on ring readings of two individuals, they start to migrate southwest with stopover sites in Italy, but their wintering areas are unknown. Stilts hatched in Portugal (one individual) and France (two individuals) bred in Hungary during the large influxes in 1999 and 2000. Five Black-winged Stilts hatched in Italy were observed later in Hungary and are supposed to be breeders in Hungary in most cases. Furthermore, one individual captured as an adult in Spain and two trapped in Italy were observed in Hungary. The Hungarian population of Black-winged Stilt is threatened by predation on eggs and chicks, drainage of wetlands, and also by human-induced flooding of artificial wetlands (e.g. fishponds). Stilts regularly occupy artificial breeding islands the first years after habitat restoration. The Hungarian population of Black-winged Stilts is increasing due to habitat management with grazing animals, especially with Mangalica ‘Woolly’ Pigs and Water Buffalos.

Movements of the mute swan Cygnus olor were studied based on the database of the Hungarian Bird Ringing Centre (BirdLife Hungary). A total of 20,335 recoveries of 6,806 individuals were evaluated, which yielded new information about migration routes, moulting and wintering grounds of this species. Apart from local recoveries, a total of 1,265 birds (21.3%) have been reported from abroad out of the total 5,940 swans originally ringed in Hungary. The recovery sites were mainly situated in the Balkan region as well as north-west and north-east from Germany (e.g. Germany, Poland, the Baltic region). The Hungarian breeding population was mostly sedentary, but short-distance winter migration also occurred to the Balkan region. The wintering mute swan population was in the range of 1,000-1,200 individuals consisting of native birds, but also including immigrants with the highest numbers coming from south Poland. Recoveries from longer distances (e.g. Denmark, Russia) were typical in severe winters. The number of moulting mute swans in Hungary was estimated to be 800 individuals, which were mostly local birds; however, considerable numbers of individuals were also arriving from the Croatian and south Polish populations.

AbstractOrnithological studies often rely on long-term bird ringing data sets as sources of information. However, basic descriptive statistics of raw data are rarely provided. In order to fill this gap, here we present the sixth item of a series of exploratory analyses of migration timing and body size measurements of the most frequent passerine species at a ringing station located in Central Hungary (1984–2017). First, we give a concise description of foreign ring recoveries of the European Robin in relation to Hungary. We then shift focus to data of 40,128 ringed and 11,231 recaptured individuals with 24,056 recaptures (several years recaptures in 313 individuals) derived from the ringing station, where birds have been trapped, handled and ringed with standardized methodology since 1984. Timing is described through annual and daily capture and recapture frequencies and their descriptive statistics. We show annual mean arrival dates within the study period and present the cumulative distributions of first captures with stopover durations. We present the distributions of wing, third primary, tail length and body mass, and the annual means of these variables. Furthermore, we show the distributions of individual fat and muscle scores, and the distributions of body mass within each fat score category.We distinguish the spring and autumn migratory periods and age groups (i.e. juveniles and adults). Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the analysed variables. However, we do not aim to interpret the obtained results, merely to draw attention to interesting patterns that may be worth exploring in detail. Data used here are available upon request for further analyses.

In birds, observed adult sex ratios often are biased towards males. This bias could arise due to differences between sexes in dispersal or in detectability / catchability, but a preferred explanation has been sex differences in survival. However, most studies investigated apparent survival, in which differences in dispersal were not accounted for. Here, we used data from 24'830 capturesof 11 bird species, collected at 40 Hungarian constant effort ringing sites, to estimate true survival, dispersal, and capture probability. On average, dispersal and capture probabilities were similar between sexes. However, the probability to survive from one year to the next was 0.46 in males but only 0.37 in females, suggesting that higher female mortality may indeed be the most important predictor of male-biased adult sex ratios.

Abstract Ornithological studies often rely on long-term bird ringing data sets as sources of information. However, basic descriptive statistics of raw data are rarely provided. In order to fill this gap, here we present the fourth item of a series of exploratory analyses of migration timing and body size measurements of the most frequent Passerine species at a ringing station located in Central Hungary (1984-2016). First, we give a concise description of foreign ring recoveries of the Common Blackbird in relation to Hungary. We then shift focus to data of 6849 ringed individuals and 6081 recaptures derived from the ringing station, where birds have been trapped, handled and ringed with standardized methodology since 1984. Timing is described through annual and daily capture and recapture frequencies and their descriptive statistics. We show annual mean arrival dates within the study period and present the cumulative distributions of first captures with stopover durations. We present the distributions of wing, third primary, tail length and body mass, and the annual means of these variables. Furthermore, we show the distributions of individual fat and muscle scores, and the distributions of body mass within each fat score category. We distinguish the spring and autumn migratory periods, breeding and wintering seasons, ages (i.e. juveniles and adults) and the two sexes. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the analysed variables. However, we do not aim to interpret the obtained results, merely to draw attention to interesting patterns that may be worth exploring in detail. Data used here are available upon request for further analyses.

AbstractOrnithological studies often rely on long-term bird ringing data sets as sources of information. However, basic descriptive statistics of raw data are rarely provided. In order to fill this gap, here we present the third item of a series of exploratory analyses of migration timing and body size measurements of the most frequent Passerine species at a ringing station located in Central Hungary (1984-2016). First, we give a concise description of foreign ring recoveries of the Song Thrush in relation to Hungary. We then shift focus to data of 4137 ringed individuals and 1051 recaptures derived from the ringing station, where birds have been trapped, handled and ringed with standardized methodology since 1984. Timing is described through annual and daily capture and recapture frequencies and their descriptive statistics. We show annual mean arrival dates within the study period and present the cumulative distributions of first captures with stopover durations. We present the distributions of wing, third primary, tail length and body mass, and the annual means of these variables. Furthermore, we show the distributions of individual fat and muscle scores, and the distributions of body mass within each fat score category. We distinguish the spring and autumn migratory periods, breeding and wintering seasons, and age groups (i.e. juveniles and adults). Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the analysed variables. However, we do not aim to interpret the obtained results, merely to draw attention to interesting patterns that may be worth exploring in detail. Data used here are available upon request for further analyses.

Abstract Ornithological studies often rely on long-term bird ringing data sets as sources of information. However, basic descriptive statistics of raw data are rarely provided. In order to fill this gap, here we present the seventh item of a series of exploratory analyses of migration timing and body size measurements of the most frequent Passerine species at a ringing station located in Central Hungary (1984–2017). First, we give a concise description of foreign ring recoveries of the Thrush Nightingale in relation to Hungary. We then shift focus to data of 1138 ringed and 547 recaptured individuals with 1557 recaptures (several years recaptures in 76 individuals) derived from the ringing station, where birds have been trapped, handled and ringed with standardized methodology since 1984. Timing is described through annual and daily capture and recapture frequencies and their descriptive statistics. We show annual mean arrival dates within the study period and present the cumulative distributions of first captures with stopover durations. We present the distributions of wing, third primary, tail length and body mass, and the annual means of these variables. Furthermore, we show the distributions of individual fat and muscle scores, and the distributions of body mass within each fat score category. We present data only for the autumn migratory period since there were only 27 spring captures in the study period. We distinguish the age groups (i.e. juveniles and adults) in the analyses. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the analysed variables. However, we do not aim to interpret the obtained results, merely to draw attention to interesting patterns that may be worth exploring in detail. Data used here are available upon request for further analyses.

Abstract The present paper acts as an introduction to a series that will describe the exploratory analyses of migration phenology and morphometrics of the most common passerine species at the Ócsa Bird Ringing Station. This station is situated in the Ócsa Landscape Protection Area that belongs to the Duna–Ipoly National Park, Hungary. The area is somewhat cooler and more humid than the surrounding agricultural fields and tree plantations, covered by a mosaic of diverse hygrophilous vegetation patches. Bird trapping is mostly based on Japanese mist-net lines crossing different plant communities. During the period of 1984–2015, a total of 422,862 birds were trapped and ringed here, while 202,739 local, 1,235 within country, and 443 foreign recaptures were also recorded. Each bird is characterized by the following data: location and time of capture, species, age, sex, scores of fat, pectoral muscle, wing tip abrasion, and moult, length of wing, 3rd primary, and tail, and body mass. After subjected to a rigorous quality check, digital data are deposited in the archive of the Hungarian Bird Ringing Centre, and the EURING data base. From time to time, other research projects also utilized the accessibility of wild birds captured here, thus collection of blood samples, ecto- and endoparasites was carried out at the station. The relatively long time span, large number of species and individuals, and the readily available environmental (weather, vegetation, etc.) data makes the avian data collected here a suitable base for studies of various disciplines like capture methodology, habitat preferences, breeding, migration, and wintering, effects of weather and climate change, and epidemiology of viruses and parasites.

Abstract Ornithological studies often rely on large temporal scale ringing datasets as source of information. However, basic descriptive statistics of collected data are rarely provided. In order to fill this gap, here we present the first item of a series of exploratory analyses of migration timing and body size measurements of the most frequent Passerine species at a ringing station located in Central Hungary (1984–2015). First, we give a concise description of foreign ring recoveries of the Pied Flycatcher in relation to Hungary. We then shift focus to data of 2860 individuals deriving from the ringing station, where birds have been trapped, handled and ringed with standardized methodology since 1984. Timing is described through annual and daily capture and recapture frequencies and their descriptive statistics. We show annual mean arrival dates within the study period and we present the cumulative distribution of first captures with stopover durations. We present the distributions of wing, third primary, tail length and body mass, and the annual means of these variables. Furthermore, we show the distribution of individual fat and muscle scores, and the distribution of body mass within each fat score category. We distinguish migration periods (spring and autumn), age (i.e. juveniles and adults) and sex groups. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of the analysed variables. However, we do not aim to interpret the obtained results, merely draw attention to interesting patterns, that may be worth exploring in detail. Data used here are available upon request for further analyses.