Garden Warblers Sylvia borin were studied during autumn stopover in Crete before

crossing the barrier of theMediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert. Birds followed

with transmitters show extensive stopover periods, which were longer in first-year

birds, 16 days, compared with adult birds, 14 days. The distribution of body masses

frombirds trapped in fig trees were used to estimate the departure body mass and the

results found indicate that both age categories on average depart with a fuel load close

to 100% of lean body mass. The movement of transmitter birds shows di

fferences between

first-year and adult birds. Adult birds move further away from the release site

and many also left the study area. Several were found settled outside the study area,

up to 17 km away, indicating that they regularly make longer stopover movements. It

is suggested that this might be a result of that they return to a place where they stayed

during an earlier migration. It was shown that stopover site fidelity exists and nine

garden warblers were recaptured in the area during a following autumn. The results

found highlights the importance of stopover areas close to the SaharaDesert.