Temperature is a critical factor influencing avian phenology, due to its direct impact on food and water availability. Most previous studies have focused on the timing of spring migration and the arrival of birds at breeding grounds along the European and American flyways; little is known about migration ecology at the wintering sites along the Asian flyways. Using linear regression models, this study investigates how local temperature variation and EI Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences the arrival and departure timing of 9 waterbird species breeding in Mongolia or Siberia and overwintering in Poyang, China from 2002 to 2013. Birds mainly arrive at Poyang in October and depart for their breeding sites in March. Out of the 9 species, 6 show a strong negative relationship between departure time and overwintering temperature in Poyang. Departure dates also show a negative association with overwintering ENSO and March ENSO for two species. Both local and large-scale climate indices show no influence on the arrival timing of waterbirds. We suggest that birds react to the annual variation of overwintering temperature: an earlier departure of waterbirds is facilitated by a warmer overwintering period and vice versa. The long-term accumulated temperature effect is more pronounced than ENSO and the short-term local temperature effect. Our findings could help quantify the potential impact of global warming on waterbirds.
Keywords: ENSO; annual temperature variation; arrival and departure time; local accumulated temperature; overwintering birds.
© 2016 International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.