Climate change and birds

Climate change affects birds by altering temperature, precipitation, habitats, food supplies, and seasonal timing, changing where birds can live and how they survive and reproduce.

Phenology: The timing of recurring seasonal events in organisms and ecosystems. Earlier springs can shift breeding and migration schedules, sometimes out of sync with food availability.
Climate-driven extinction: The disappearance of a species caused or accelerated by changes in climate. Species unable to move or adapt can lose all suitable habitat as conditions change.
Climate vulnerability assessment: An evaluation of how exposed and sensitive a species or system is to climate change. Assessments identify birds most at risk from warming, extreme events, and limited dispersal.
Adélie penguin: A penguin species that breeds on Antarctic coasts and islands. Its colonies respond to changes in sea ice, snow, and access to prey.
Ecological mismatch: A disruption that occurs when interacting species respond differently to environmental change. Birds may raise chicks after peak insect abundance when warming advances prey emergence faster than breeding.
Seabird decline: The reduction of seabird populations through interacting pressures on survival and reproduction. Warming oceans alter prey availability and can intensify breeding failures in seabird colonies.
Climate refugium: An area whose local conditions remain suitable for a species as the surrounding climate changes. Protecting refugia can preserve habitat for birds that cannot shift their ranges quickly.
Pied flycatcher: A small migratory songbird that breeds in Europe and winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Long-term studies document breeding becoming mismatched with earlier caterpillar peaks.
Climate niche: The range of climatic conditions under which a species can maintain populations. Changing temperatures move suitable conditions, altering the places where bird populations can persist.
Alpine bird: A bird species adapted to high-elevation mountain environments. Alpine birds can be pushed uphill as temperatures rise, eventually running out of habitat.

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