Timing of arrival from spring migration is associated with flight performance in the migratory barn swallow

Timing of arrival at the breeding grounds by migratory birds affects their mating success and access to superior resources, thus being a major factor associated with fitness. Much empirical work has been devoted to investigate the condition dependence of arrival sequence of migrants and characteristics of individuals that influence arrival time from migration. Surprisingly, there are no studies examining the relationship between flight performance of individual birds and their arrival time. I investigated the relative importance of direct effects of short-term flight performance, age, body condition and the degree of sexual ornamentation (tail length) on timing of spring arrival in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), a long-distance trans-equatorial passerine migrant. I evaluated short-term flight performance (a composite variable comprising flight manoeuvrability, velocity and acceleration) in a standardised manner using flight tunnels. Short-term flight performance was a significant and important predictor of spring arrival date. Furthermore, locomotion predicted arrival date of individual birds independently of morphological variables—the degree of sexual ornamentation (the length of the tail) and wing aspect ratio and body condition. I discuss the possible role short-term flight performance may have in determining migratory performance. This is the first time flight performance has been shown to be associated with timing of arrival from migration in a migratory bird.