General Considerations
While it is beyond question that certain general directions of flight are consistently followed by migratory birds, it is well to remember the term "migration route" is to some extent a theoretical concept referring to the lines of general advance or retreat of a species, rather than the exact course followed by individual birds or a path followed by a species with specific geographic or ecological boundaries. Even the records of banded birds usually show no more than the place of banding and recovery. One ought to have recourse to intermediate records and reasoning based on probabilities to fill in details of the route actually traversed between the two points. In determining migration routes, one must constantly guard against the false assumption that localities with many grounded migrants are on the main path of migration and localities where no grounded migrants are observed are off the main path.
There is also infinite variety in the routes covered during migration by different species. In fact, the choice of migration highways is so wide that is seems as if the routes of no two species coincide. Differences in distance traveled, time of starting, speed of flight, geographical position, latitudes of breeding and wintering grounds, and other factors contribute to this great variation of migration routes. Nevertheless, there are certain factors that serve to guide individuals or groups of individuals along more or less definite lines, and it is possible to define such lines of migration for many species.
Except in a few species, individuals probably do not follow precisely the same route twice. This is especially true in the group of soaring birds that utilize thermals. Mueller and Berger (1967b) recaptured only three migrants in subsequent years at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, after banding over 50,000 birds there. In general, those populations of species with very discernible breeding or wintering grounds have readily discernible migration routes. However, even the whole migration process of certain species may show great yearly fluctuations (Rudebeck 1950).
Aldrich et al. (1949) showed from banding data great variation in migration patterns between species of waterfowl. In some species there was considerable diversity in direction of movement, not only of different breeding populations within a species but also for different individuals of the same breeding population. The impression is inescapable; waterfowl migration is even more complicated than originally supposed, and it is difficult to make generalizations with regard to migration pathways for even a single species let alone waterfowl in general.