Birds on the move: Special column on bird movement

Studying movements is essential for shedding light on a number of issues related to avian biology: behavioral aspects such as foraging, migratory routes and strategies, navigation and orientation mechanisms; ecological aspects such as metapopulation dynamics, insular biogeography, seed dispersal, disease spread; conservation biology such as the effects of habitat fragmentation, identification of key areas deserving protection, effects of climate change. This special column consists of nine papers that deal with the movement ecology of birds under a variety of perspectives (from foraging movements to longdistance migrations) using different technologies (radar tracking, satellite telemetry, GPS data-loggers, geolocators) and different species (ducks, raptors, seabirds, passerines) in different parts of the world (especially Europe, but also North America, Africa and Asia). Its primary aim is to provide an updated sample of the current research on this topic.