Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”
The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).
The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.
The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.
The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.
You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.
Audubon's climate model projects a highly variable seasonal future for the American Wigeon. Only 35% of its summer range will remain stable while the remaining suitable climate for nesting will shift dramatically northward, and if the species can follow the rapid change is an open question. The wintering area is predicted to slightly expand and shift northward; this is one of many migratory waterfowl species that will probably begin to winter further north as the mean winter ice line retreats toward the North Pole. An accomplished grazer, this species may actually benefit from ponds fringed by lawns at suburban office campuses.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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