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| Tue, 26th May 2020 11:30:00 |
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Warming climate is changing where birds breed: study |
Spring is in full swing. Trees are leafing out, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and birds are singing. But a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that those birds in your backyard may be changing right along with the climate.
Clark Rushing, Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Quinney College of Natural Resources at Utah State University, and colleagues at the U.S. Geological Survey wanted to know how climate change has already affected where birds breed. They used data from the Breeding Bird Survey—one of the oldest and longest citizen-science programs in the world—to conduct their research. "Thousands of devoted volunteers, cooperators, and a joint U.S.-Canadian wildlife management team have contributed to the success of the surveys for the last 54 years," said Andy Royle, a USGS senior scientists and co-author of the study. "The Breeding Bird Survey is fundamental to our understanding and management of wild bird populations in North America."
The research team combined Breeding Bird Survey data with powerful computer models to discover changes in breeding range for 32 species of birds found in eastern North America. What they found is surprising:
Some birds' ranges are expanding. Birds that both breed and winter in North America are extending their ranges north to take advantage of new, warm places to breed. These birds are also maintaining their southern ranges. These results bring hope that some bird populations, such as Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers, may be resilient to future climate change.
Some birds' ranges are shrinking. Neotropical migratory birds breed in North America during the summer and migrate to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America for the winter. Neotropical migrants include many species that people love and look forward to seeing each spring such as buntings, warblers, orioles, and flycatchers. The team's research shows that these birds are not expanding north and their southern ranges are shrinking.
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