I have always been interested in the amazing flight of birds moving in a highly dynamic environment. This interest started when I was watching the incredible dynamic-soaring flight of shearwaters, where these birds trade speed for altitude, almost playing with the winds. Then, I expanded this through observing the migration of soaring birds (i.e. storks and raptors), almost effortlessly harvesting energy from the environment in a form of thermal uplift and favorable tailwinds to support their flight. For me, this raised questions in relation to soaring flight and the associated energy costs. I was specifically interested in how wind conditions and geographical information can be integrated by birds to adjust their speed and face high-cost flying zones like waterbodies (very weak to no thermals are formed there), in order to keep migrating towards their goal. My PhD work integrated information on the effects of environmental factors, specifically meteorological conditions, geographic features and anthropogenic developments, to substantially advance the understanding of how flying animals are affected by, and respond to, their dynamic aerial habitat and the complexity of the landscape over which they move. To do so, I used marine radar and GPS-accelerometer tags on different model species migrating across the Mediterranean basin between Africa and Europe. This work was mostly done thanks to many collaborators and institutions, and part of it was developed during my 9-month stay at the Safi lab at Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour in Konstanz (Germany).
Publications from my PhD work including collaborative work:
Santos CD, Sapir N, Becciu P, Granadeiro JP & Wikelski M (2024) Risk-sensitive response of soaring birds to crosswind over dangerous sea highlights age-specific differences in migratory performance. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (accepted).
DOI: TBA
Becciu P, Troupin D, Dinevich L, Leshem Y & Sapir N (2023) Soaring migrants flexibly respond to sea-breeze in a migratory bottleneck: using first derivatives to identify behavioural adjustments over time. Movement Ecology 11: 44.
DOI: 10.1186/s40462-023-00402-4 (Open Access)
Becciu P, Panuccio M, Dell’Omo G & Sapir N (2021) Groping in the fog: soaring migrants exhibit wider scatter in flight directions and respond differently to wind under low visibility conditions. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 767.
DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.745002 (Open Access)
Nourani E, Bohrer G, Becciu P, et al. and Safi K (2021) The interplay of wind and uplift facilitates over-water flight in facultative soaring birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288: 20211603.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1603 (Open Access)
Becciu P, Rotics S, Horvitz N, Kaatz M, Fiedler W, Zurell D, Flack A, Jeltsch F, Wikelski M, Nathan R and Sapir N (2020) Causes and consequences of facultative sea crossing in a soaring migrant. Functional Ecology 34: 840-852.
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13539
Becciu P, Menz MHM, Aurbach A, Cabrera-Cruz SA, Wainwright CE, Scacco M, Ciach M, Pettersson LB, Maggini I, Arroyo GM, Buler JJ, Reynolds DR and Sapir N (2019) Environmental effects on flying migrants revealed by radar. Ecography 42: 942-955.
DOI: 10.1111/ecog.03995 (Open Access)
Becciu P, Panuccio M, Catoni C, Dell’Omo G and Sapir N (2018) Contrasting aspects of tailwinds and asymmetrical response to crosswinds in soaring migrants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 72: 28. (Published as “Featured Student Research Paper”)
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2447-0
PAOLO BECCIU 