Climate Change Impacts Our Birds

Like canaries in coal mines, birds across America are giving early warning signs of what climate change portends for our landscapes and, ultimately, ourselves, according to new reports issued in February by the National Audubon Society and Audubon Washington.

The overall study by Audubon scientists examines 40 years of avian data and shows that nearly 60% of species that winter in North America have moved northward or inland - sometimes by hundreds of miles - most likely in response to climate change.

Five years ago, Audubon Washington's first State of the Birds analysis showed that Washington's growing human population and fragmentation of habitat has severely affected natural places critical to many bird species.

The most direct effects of climate change are changes in precipitation and temperature - which, in turn, drive alterations of entire ecosystems. Birds shift their ranges to find food, shelter, nesting areas, and other conditions necessary for survival.

What was once important wildlife habitat may become inundated by seawater, negatively altered by wildfire patterns, too hot or too cold, too dry or too wet, and no longer able to support plants and organisms necessary to resident or migratory populations. Wildlife that depends on this habitat will need to shift its range - or not survive.

Among Washington bird species that have significantly shifted their ranges in the past decades are Marbled Murrelet, Western Scrub-Jay, Lincoln's Sparrow, Say's Phoebe.

Projections show that the Pacific Northwest will lose 32 percent of the bird species but will gain new species as some move into the rearranged climate and habitats of the region - resulting in a net loss of 16 percent of our total number of bird species. Birds most at risk from habitat loss are those specialized in their habitat needs, including those restricted to islands, alpine zones or coastal beaches for critical parts of their life cycles.

The Audubon Washington 2009 State of the Birds report focuses on the species using the state's 74 Important Bird Areas, or IBAs, places important to birds during some part of their life cycles--breeding, wintering, feeding or migrating. The identification and conservation of IBAs is a global effort spearheaded by BirdLife International, spanning more than 100 countries on every continent, as well as the open oceans.

Read full report here.

Click here to find out more on how you can help conduct bird surveys so we can all better understand this problem.