Upwind or downwind: the spring arrival of Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea at Troms, north Norway

• Published in: Ringing & Migration
• Main Author: Barrett, Robert T.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2016
• Subjects: VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480; VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480; Arctic Terns; migration; breeding; Norway; Antarctic; arrival dates; Arctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation; North Norway; Sterna paradisaea; Troms
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/10853; https://doi.org/10.1080/03078698.2016.1190610

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in "Ringing and Migration". Published version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03078698.2016.1190610. Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea have a record-long migration between their breeding grounds in the Arctic and wintering areas in the Antarctic. Nevertheless, return dtaes to north Norway were remarkably constant over a 35-y period (1981-2015), arriving in Troms within a 13-d time window in mid to late May. Since 1993, arrival dates have advanced by about four days. No relationships were found between arrival dates and large-scale weather proxies such as the North Atlantic Oscillation or sea temperatures, but when terns were approaching Troms, headwinds tended to delay arrivals whereas tailwinds advanced them.