Spring arrivals of migrant waders in Iceland in the 20th century

Abstract

Records of first sightings of Icelandic-breeding waders and high-Arctic passage migrants have been made in most parts of Iceland since 1902. Two sets of records of first sightings are used here to analyse temporal changes in arrival dates during the 20th century and the effects of weather conditions. First sightings became earlier in the first half of the 20th century, as local spring temperatures increased. They ceased to do so after 1960, when temperatures were decreasing slightly, though the associations between arrival dates and annual temperatures were weak. In years with more than five records for a species, the earliest sightings were 5-9 days before the median dates of all first sightings. Though earliest sightings were delayed in cool Icelandic springs, those median dates showed little correlation with local spring temperatures. Six species arrived later when the winter or spring values of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) were high, but seven species showed no significant associations with the winter NAO. Sightings tended to be later in springs in which westerly or cyclonic systems were prevalent over Ireland and Scotland. First sightings in Iceland were substantially later than in the Outer Hebrides, though in closer synchrony with the peaks of passage there than with arrival and passage dates in Shetland and north Norway. Sustained observations at a few key sites should be useful in tracking the responses of waders to variations in climate and other environmental changes.

Inter‐annual variation in the breeding chronology of arctic shorebirds: effects of weather, snow melt and predators

“…Weather in northeast Greenland was significantly correlated with timing of shorebird arrival for only two of five species, and no correlation was found between temperatures at European staging grounds and arrival of the birds in Greenland (Meltofte 1985). In sub‐arctic Iceland, the arrival of shorebirds to breeding grounds was delayed in some years when weather and wind conditions were unfavourable in Ireland and Scotland, but no overarching relationship with temperature at the staging grounds was apparent (Boyd and Petersen 2006). The timing of arrival may instead correspond to long‐term averages of suitable weather conditions, or access to invertebrate prey at arctic locations (Meltofte 1985, Piersma et al 1990).…”

Flexibility in spring arrival of migratory birds at northern latitudes under rapid temperature changes

“…It is likely that the explanation has to do with the process of migration itself. Warmer springs in Iceland are most often accompanied by southerly winds (Boyd & Petersen 2006). For most Icelandic migrants these will be tailwinds which will make the crossing over the North Atlantic both energetically cheaper and less risky.…”

Influence of Global Weather Conditions on Timing of the Spring Migration of Birds in the Kaniv Nature Reserve (Central Ukraine)

“…Many researchers analysed the relation of NAO to diff erent aspects of bird ecology, especially migrations (Forchhammer et al, 2002;Nott et al, 2002;Hubálek, 2003;Hüppop & Hüppop, 2003;Vähätalo et al, 2004;Stervander et al, 2005;Boyd, Petersen, 2006;Rainio et al, 2006;Sokolov, 2006;Palm et al, 2009;Žalakevičius et al, 2009;Tøttrup et al, 2010;Gordo et al, 2011;Kim et al, 2015, etc.). However, the infl uence of weather variables and climate changes is very manifold and polysemantic.…”