Migratory Birds Climate Change

Many believe that climate change’s reach ends at more sunny days and shortened winters. This belief, however could not be farther from the truth. In reality, the global climate change that the earth is undergoing, sped up by human irresponsibility with taking care of our planet, is a widespread and alarmingly severe issue. The one branch, out of the multitude of problems caused by climate change, that will be addressed in this article is the effect of increasingly warmer climate on the migratory patterns of many bird species.

Birds have fine tuned their migration and reproduction times exactly over millions of years of evolution. By speeding up the process of climate change, humans have altered what this perfect time to migrate is, affecting how successful such migrations are. If these birds do not migrate at the right time, they miss their chance of having a regular migration, and end up flying for miles in conditions not optimal to support their trek. This can have devastating consequences for many migratory bird species. Sometimes, climate change can cause a complete halt in migration, or at least a shortening. Birds who stay in one place when they should be migrating face cold winters that they are not adapted to survive, and the harsh reality of it is that many don’t.

Such can be seen in cranes and starlings who stay in Germany instead of migrating to Spain and Portugal. These birds are not used to the cold conditions of German winters, meaning most of them will not survive.

On top of this, the warmer weather caused by climate change also forces some birds to go farther North or South than they have evolved to be. This can lead to them not finding a recognizable food source, or becoming invasive to the native populations of species in those regions. The birds will most likely be uncomfortable in these unfamiliar regions which could possibly lead to significantly reduced reproduction and fledging, causing their populations to take a big hit.

Not only is it these obstacles that are in place for some already struggling species, but also the challenge of habitat loss. With climate change causing flooding, increased temperatures, and the desertification of many places, migratory birds may have no place to stop and rest in between long periods of flight during their migration. This lack of rest stops could very likely cause the birds to be unable to continue, only midway through migrating.

If and when these birds finally reach their destinations, there will likely not be enough food for the entire population's offspring. With birds migrating earlier and earlier each year, by result of climate change throwing them off, they get more and more misaligned with the time of peak food resources being available. This means that there is not enough food to support the wave of offspring that comes after arrival at the migration’s destination. Parents have no food for their chicks, causing what is supposed to be the new generation of birds to be radically reduced in population.

This is an urgent issue that affects many bird populations today and needs to be addressed. Around 90-95% of raptor nests in Southern California failed in 2014 because of the climate change induced drought. No raptor offspring were left to support the population of the new generation in this region. In the next 65 years, the bald eagle is expected to see a decrease in range by about a whopping 75%. The migratory pied flycatcher in Dutch populations has reported a 90% decrease in size happening over the course of only 20 years, as of 2005. It is critical that steps be taken as soon as possible to reduce the ever growing effects of climate change on these birds. This is a modern problem, not one to ponder in the future. Steps must be taken now in order to do as little damage to these birds as possible.

However bad this news may sound, the situation is not hopeless yet. Reducing the speed at which climate change is becoming ever more prevalent could be a huge step in the direction towards conserving these species that are currently threatened by the worsening conditions. Anyone can make a contribution. No action meant to reduce climate change is ever wasted, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time. By recycling, turning off lights when they’re not being used, using efficient technology that does not emit too much carbon, or even just making the decision to use an energy efficient light bulb, you are making the difference that these birds need to survive. Anything and everything helps, so doing your best to be as eco friendly as possible can help save these species. No action is too small to earn the gratitude of thousands of birds who need all the help they can get!

Sources: Climate change and population declines in a long-distance migratory bird, More Than Half Of U.S. Bird Species Threatened By Climate Change, Climate change and migratory birds

Image Credit: Riya Chauhan, Songbird Garden, Rihaij

#climatechange #habitatdestruction #animal #ecosystems