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from the planning-ahead-is-for-the-birds dept.
These State Birds may be Forced out of their States as the World Warms:
WASHINGTON — Each state in America has an official state bird, usually an iconic species that helps define the landscape. Minnesota chose the common loon, whose haunting wails echo across the state's northern lakes each summer. Georgia picked the brown thrasher, a fiercely territorial bird with a repertoire of more than 1,000 song types.
But as the planet warms and birds across the country relocate to escape the heat, at least eight states could see their state birds largely or entirely disappear from within their borders during the summer, according to a new study.
[...]The research, released Thursday by the National Audubon Society, projects that hundreds of bird species across North America are likely to drastically shift their ranges in the decades ahead in response to rising temperatures and other threats from climate change.
The report raises the prospect that many bird species could struggle to cope as warming forces them into unfamiliar territory or shrinks their existing habitats. And it illustrates how thoroughly the avian world as we know it may be remapped if humans continue pumping greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
If global temperatures rise a plausible 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels this century, Minnesota will no longer enjoy the local climate conditions that loons are accustomed to as they arrive each summer to breed and hunt for food, the study found. As a result, the birds may bypass the state altogether and head farther north.
The same goes for other state birds, including the northern flicker in Alabama — known locally as the yellowhammer — as well as the brown thrasher in Georgia, the purple finch in New Hampshire, the hermit thrush in Vermont and the goldfinch in Iowa and New Jersey. Those birds are projected to lose virtually all of their summer ranges within those states at 3 degrees of global warming.
[...] The California quail, often seen strutting around the state's suburbs and parks, could lose 87 percent of its winter range in California. And the ruffed grouse, the official state game bird in Pennsylvania and one that is popular with hunters, could lose its entire summer and winter ranges in the state, the study found.
"It's one way we'll see the effects of climate change right in our own backyards," said David Yarnold, the president of the National Audubon Society. "If you've ever been around a lake in the upper United States, you can probably hear the sound of a loon in your head. It's hard to imagine a Minnesota summer without them. It's hard to imagine a New Jersey summer without goldfinches."
[...]To conduct the study, Audubon's scientists mapped the current ranges and habitats of 604 bird species across North America, using data from millions of bird observations. They then used climate models to estimate the birds' future ranges under warming conditions of 1.5 degrees, 2 degrees and 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The expectation was that many birds will try to move to keep up with shifts in temperature, rainfall and vegetation.
[...]The report classified 389 of the species studied as "vulnerable" to 3 degrees Celsius of warming. That means the birds are projected to lose a significant portion of their current range and may have relatively limited opportunities to move elsewhere. Examples include the lark bunting, Colorado's state bird, and the wood thrush, a migratory bird that breeds in Eastern forests.
(Score: 3, Informative) by FatPhil on Friday October 11 2019, @07:35AM (2 children)
That extends all the way to "so rare, you'll never see one".
Stop complaining, trust the president, he doesn't believe there's been ay climate-related changes in animals' habitats, and therefore neither should you, good citizen. (And vote for me. Or the other guy, we're both funded by the same corporations.)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Friday October 11 2019, @08:15AM
Keep logging, clearing, and burning wood and coal. Missing birds will be the least of our problems
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @08:17AM
Awww, TMB will go extinct.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 11 2019, @09:49AM (1 child)
Tarantulas didn't help us in the Normandy Landings so fuck 'em. Let 'em burn.
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Tuesday October 15 2019, @01:49PM
That one is just the worst. Not only was it such an absurd standard- the Kurds DID fight for the allies in WW2. An important force in the desert war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_Levies [wikipedia.org] the Iraq Levies were about 30% Kurdish units in WW2.
The Irony here: Kurds, Iraq, and Iran were allies in WW2, Japan and Germany were enemies. The orange baffoon loves Germany and Japan.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by VLM on Friday October 11 2019, @11:18AM
Friggin journalists can't even fact check anymore, their state bird is the mosquito. Or is that Wisconsin's state bird? Whatevs.
The thing about wokescolds is they'll complain about those horrible rural white people having jobs while the more important holy animal, the birds, die around them. This scolding is being done while they're holding KFC or starbucks chickn wraps or McD McNuggies in their hand.
If its considered a holy obligation to force humans across arbitrary political boundaries as an invasion force, I don't see the problem with birdies migrating a bit. They're not illegal alien birdies, they're undocumented criminal invaders or whatever the new term is. They seem sad that they gave the future of MN away to the Somalians instead of their own kids, and the invaders deserve loons. Well, there's plenty of loons still in MN, mostly in political power.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Friday October 11 2019, @11:51AM
Animals generally don't care about borders, they're doing the same things as before man-made borders even existed.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday October 11 2019, @01:06PM
Or the loons might adapt to the mild changes in habitat and food sources. Oh dear.
And what's with the "unfamiliar territory" mentioned elsewhere? Birds are very good at turning unfamiliar territory into familiar territory. One season in unfamiliar territory and that box is checked off.
There has already been massive changes in these regions from human habitation. Yet these birds still exist. My take is that climate change is nothing in comparison.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 11 2019, @02:04PM
Because their state bird is the mosquito. Also, climate change will not affect their forests because their state tree is the telephone pole, and the state flower is a turd blossom. And they're already prepared for a warmer world because they've been living without ice cubes for some time--the lady who knew the recipe died.
So while others in the lower 48 will be losing their minds, the North Dakotans will remain unaffected and will be happily singing their state song, "My Baby's Been Gone 7 Days But It Feels More Like A Week To Me."
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Friday October 11 2019, @11:39PM
The Common Loon isn't as common as it used to be in Minnesota. They tend to not like built up areas, and they also don't like lakes that have a lot of runoff in them so you won't see them much in farm country either. So it's really only the wilderness up in the northern part of the state where you'll find them. If they disappeared, a good number of Minnesotans wouldn't even realize it.
Perhaps the new state bird should be the Canada Goose, as those really are everywhere. And they don't seem to have a problem with urban areas, where they are more than happy to crap all over the sidewalks and hiss at pedestrians. Hard to believe they were almost extinct at one point.