Half of North America’s bird species, from common backyard visitors like the Baltimore oriole and the rufous hummingbird to wilderness dwellers like the common loon and bald eagle, are under threat from climate change and many could go extinct, an exhaustive new study has found.

 

Seven years of research found climate change the biggest threat to North America’s bird species.

 

Some 314 species face dramatic declines in population, if present trends continue, with warming temperatures pushing the birds out of their traditional ranges. Ten states and Washington DC could lose their state birds.

 

The Audubon researchers found that by mid-century, 126 of the 588 bird species in the study would lose more than half of their traditional ranges, and would go into decline. An additional 188 species would lose their range by 2080, according to the study.

 

The bald eagle, once considered a success story for American conservation, could lose 75% of its range by 2080. Some birds, such as the trumpeter swan, would lose virtually all of their range towards the end of the century, according to the projections.

 

The study found 274 birds would maintain or increase their range under climate change. But that ias not an automatic guarantee for survival. Even if the birds find more room to expand, they could face renewed competition from other species, as well as new predators.

 

The researchers drew on more than a century of observations from birders as well as a 40-year historical record from the US Geological Survey, combining the data with 17 climate models.

 

The group is calling for cuts to the carbon emissions that cause climate change, as well as measures to preserve more habitat and give the birds a better chance of survival.

 

But the findings, though grim, may underplay the threat to survival of North America’s birds.

 

The study did not take into account other factors associated with climate change – such as sea level rise, which can flood marshes and other bird habitat with salt water; drought, which can kill off insects and other food sources, or extreme storms. As a result, it is likely a conservative look at the fate of birds.

 

 

PHOTO: A Baltimore oriole in oak tree. This common backyard bird could become rarer.

CREDIT: William Leaman/Alamy