Many seabird species in the North Atlantic region have shown considerable declines in their populations during recent decades. One such species is the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), a small seabird which migrates farther than any other seabird each year and whose global population is thought to be in decline. We used banding data of chicks and adults, spanning five decades (1974–2017) from a tern colony on Flatey, in western Iceland, to generate the first assessment of annual survival in this species in Iceland. Survival from just after hatching to the next summer was estimated to be 0.119 ± 0.024 (SE), while annual survival of adult birds (older than one year) was high at 0.952 ± 0.030. Although our data were insufficient to assess annual variation in adult survival, we noted a reduced survival (0.851 ± 0.034) in recent years (since 2000), coincident with a collapse in local sand lance populations. Reduced adult survival, along with other factors, is likely contributing to declining populations of this iconic species in Iceland, a country supporting 20–30% of the world’s breeding population.

在最近的几十年中，北大西洋地区的许多海鸟物种显示出其种群大量减少。一种这样的物种是北极燕鸥（Sterna paradisaea），这是一种小型海鸟，每年迁移的距离比任何其他海鸟都远，并且其全球人口正在减少。我们使用跨越冰岛西部弗拉特（Flatey）燕鸥殖民地的横跨十年（1974–2017）的小鸡和成年鸡的带状数据，来首次评估该物种在冰岛的年生存率。从孵化到下一个夏天的存活率估计为0.119±0.024（SE），而成年鸟（大于一年）的年存活率高达0.952±0.030。尽管我们的数据不足以评估成年存活率的年度变化，但我们注意到近年来（自2000年以来）的存活率降低了（0.851±0.034），这与当地的喷枪种群减少有关。成人生存率下降，以及其他因素，