Stopover ecology, that is, the ecology of birds at resting sites visit
ed between migratory flights, has received relatively Little attention
in comparison with other fields of bird migration. In this review I d
iscuss a few unsolved questions concerning stopover ecology: (1) Which
are the selective forces acting on birds during migration? Several st
udies have shown that time-minimization may be important. The importan
ce and occurrence of minimizing energy consumption among migrants rema
ins unknown. (2) What causes the initial body mass loss upon arrival a
t a stopover site? Handling effects can not be ruled out, but several
studies hint at ecologically interesting phenomena, such as food-compe
tition and social interactions. (3) How fast can birds increase in mas
s? Metabolic constraints Limit fat deposition rates in migrants, and m
aximum fat deposition rates are higher in smaller birds than in larger
ones. The interplay between the size of the metabolic machinery (refl
ected in the basal metabolic rates) and fat deposition rates needs to
be addressed. In the field of stopover ecology there is a general need
for more theories predicting stopover behavior. More experiments are
also wanted which can be used to test predictions and disentangle the
often complex relationship among factors influencing birds on stopover
.