《migration in birds》.pdfVIP

Downloaded from / on January 18, 2016 Received 22 July 2002 Accepted 16 October 2002 Published online 8 January 2003 North Atlantic Oscillation and timing of spring migration in birds Ommo Huppop* and Kathrin Huppop ¨ ¨ Institut fu¨r Vogelforschung ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’, Inselstation, PO Box 1220, D-27494 Helgoland, Germany Migrant birds have been trapped on the island of Helgoland (southeastern North Sea) since 1909, with methods and sampling effort remaining unchanged throughout the last four decades. In 12 short/medium- distance migrants and 12 long-distance migrants (23 passerines plus the European woodcock) sample sizes were sufficient to calculate mean spring passage (msp) times and to relate these to climate change. All but one species, passing Helgoland en route to their breeding areas (mainly in Scandinavia), show a trend towards earlier msp-time, which is significant in 7 short/medium-distance migrants and 10 long- distance migrants. The msp-times advanced by 0.05–0.28 days per year, short/medium-distance migrants not differing from long-distance migrants. In 23 out of the 24 species, earlier msp-times coincide with local warmer msp-temperatures (significantly in 11 and 7 species of the two groups, respectively). Even more striking is the relation to a large-scale phenomenon, the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), dur