Birds seem to be heading farther north because of climate change

[TechBear_Seattle]

Birds seem to be heading farther north because of climate change

Years ago, the Anna's hummingbird used to winter in the U.S. only as far north as California but now is a regular Christmas visitor to Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Climate change appears to be the reason.

"They are more aggressive and displacing native species like the rufous hummingbirds," said Matt Mega, conservation director for the Seattle Audubon Society. One method of tracking changes in bird migratory and wintering patterns is the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count, done nationwide by volunteer birders.

On Tuesday, the National Audubon Society released a report based on this annual count indicating that half of 305 selected bird species in North America -- a sample that includes robins, gulls, owls and other common species -- are on average spending winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago.

Birders discovered that one species also found in the Northwest, the purple finch, has shifted its winter grounds more than 400 miles to the north -- from about the San Francisco Bay Area to Olympia.

The article continues at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/399450_birds10.html

[saltpoint]

1. Ostensibly, yes, it is climate-related, but the underlying motivation is

the birds' ardent wish to be as far north of John Cornyn as possible.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. That is one of the reasons I live in Seattle

:toast:

[saltpoint]

3. LOL. Excellent strategy!

[bananas]

4. map with the article

[TwilightGardener]

5. The robin is now wintering in southeast Nebraska, so their map's a little outdated.

'Cause I'm looking out my window and seeing robins--have been, all winter. Weird.

[MichellesBFF]

6. Birds!

I've been getting Pine Siskins, Goldfinches, and I saw Robins yesterday. (Near Albany, NY)

[WePurrsevere]

8. Wow.. this early down there? I grew up outside

the Capital District (still have family down there) and we didn't see Robins until late March normally.

[Viking12]

9. We've seen a few robins in NE Wisconsin this winter

...and the opossum population has taken root here. Not a creature that you'd even see in this area 20 years ago.

[WePurrsevere]

7. We've gone past a few empty corn fields with a flock of wild turkeys

and we're a a bit further north then were it's showing on the map. Really healthy sized flocks and birds too.

What the climate change deniers don't seem to get is that it's not about a "cold" year or two.. it's about an overall upward trend. This effects animals and plants as well as humans.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. Audubon Study Here

http://www.audubon.org/bird/bacc/index.html

Birds and Climate Change:
On the Move

Nearly 60% of the 305 species found in North America in winter are on the move, shifting their ranges northward by an average of 35 miles. Audubon scientists analyzed 40 years of citizen-science http://www.audubon.org/bird/cbc/index.html">Christmas Bird Count data — and their findings provide new and powerful evidence that global warming is having a serious impact on natural systems. Northward movement was detected among species of every type, including more than 70 percent of highly adaptable forest and feeder birds.

Only grassland species were an exception - with only 38 percent mirroring the northward trend. But far from being good news for species like Eastern Meadowlark and Henslow's Sparrow, this reflects the grim reality of severely-depleted grassland habitat and suggests that these species now face a double threat from the combined stresses of habitat loss and climate adaptation.

It is the complete picture of widespread movement and the failure of some species to move at all that illustrate the impacts of climate change on birds. They are sending us a powerful signal that we need to 1) http://birdsandclimate.org/">take policy action to curb climate change and its impacts, and 2) help wildlife and ecosystems adapt to unavoidable habitat changes, even as we work to curb climate change itself.

Browse some http://www.audubon.org/bird/bacc/Species.html">species on the move - and some who are not as adaptable - and learn http://www.audubon.org/bird/bacc/WhatUCanDo.html">what you can do to help.

[jpak]

11. We have birds that winter in Maine now that I never saw north of the Mason-Dixon as a kid

Mockingbirds
Cardinals
Tufted Titmice
Mourning Doves

In the summer, Turkey Vultures

I've seen robins all winter long here in Maine - even in serious below zero weather.