Spring arrival patterns of the Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Nightingale Luscinia megarhynchos and Spotted Flycatcher Musciapa striata in Britain

Abstract

Data on the arrival dates of Cuckoo, Nightingale and Spotted Flycatcher published in the Royal Meteorological Society phenological reports are presented. From these records, contour maps showing the pattern of progression through Britain were produced for each species. Of the three species, the Cuckoo arrived earliest and progressed the slowest from south to north; it entered Britain by the southeast. The Nightingale arrived later than the Cuckoo and progressed along a southeast to northwest axis. The Spotted Flycatcher was the last to arrive, but progressed with the greatest speed from south to north. Arrival dates of all three species were influenced by the temperature in southern Europe in the month preceding arrival in Britain and by the difference between these temperatures in southern Europe and those a month later in France or Britain. The diminishing population levels of Nightingale may have had a masking effect on its arrival dates. Although mean arrival dates for the three species were strongly influenced by temperature, long-term trend effects should be interpreted with caution as other factors also influence mean arrival dates.