Environmental and Geographic Conditions on the Breeding Grounds Drive Bergmannian Clines in Nightjars

Skinner, Aaron;Korpach, Alicia;Åkesson, Susanne;Bakermans, Marja;Knight, Elly;et.al.
(2025) Journal of Biogeography — Vol. 52, n° 10, p. e15176 (2025)

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Authors
  • Skinner, Aaronorcid-logoDepartment of Zoology The University of British Columbia Vancouver British Columbia Canada
    Author
  • Korpach, Aliciaorcid-logoDepartment of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg Manitoba Canada
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  • Åkesson, Susanneorcid-logoDepartment of Biology Lund University Lund Sweden
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  • Bakermans, MarjaDepartment of Integrative and Global Studies Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Massachusetts USA
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  • Evens, RubenUCLouvain
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  • Knight, EllyMigratory Bird Center Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Washington District of Columbia USA
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Abstract
Aim: To evaluate (1) whether three migratory nightjar species (Family Caprimulgidae) adhere to Bergmann's rule, (2) whether environmental factors on the breeding or wintering grounds determine body size, and (3) which mechanistic hypotheses best explain Bergmannian patterns in body size. Location: North and South America; Europe and Africa. Taxon: Eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), Common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) and European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus). Methods: We used GPS tracking and morphometric data to assess competing hypotheses explaining variation in body size for each species, based on their breeding (n = 3388) and wintering (n = 189) locations.
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Skinner, A., Korpach, A., Åkesson, S., Bakermans, M., Bayne, E., Benson, T., Boano, G., Brigham, R., Christiansen, S., Conway, G., Davy, C., Evens, R., Fraser, K., Harrison, A.-l., Hedenström, A., Henderson, I., Honkala, J., Jacobsen, L., Lathouwers, M., et al. (2025). Environmental and Geographic Conditions on the Breeding Grounds Drive Bergmannian Clines in Nightjars. Journal of Biogeography, 52(10), e15176. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15176 (Original work published 2025)