We use widely supported handbook data on annual fecundity (clutch size × annual number of normal broods) to obtain indications related to the relative costs of long-distance migration compared to lower levels of migratoriness. Our examples show that the yearly production of eggs in congeneric passerines of similar size from temperate Europe is lower in long-distance migrants than in their less migratory relatives. The same ten...

We infer from the literature that migratory habits of birds evolved in various phylogenetic lineages and biogeographical contexts, either after gradual range expansion into seasonal habitats, or due to environmental changes within established breeding ranges. Shifts of breeding ranges are the results of interactions between colonization due to dispersal and extinction due to deteriorating conditions. Range expansions provide a...