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.
Many bird species are predicted to occupy new ranges as a result of climate change. The unassuming Black-chinned Hummingbird is thought to have begun a climate-mediated range shift already. In recent years, it has expanded northeast, and climate change is thought to be the reason. Audubon’s climate model anticipates additional range expansion north and east of the species’ current stronghold in the desert Southwest, and possibly even into the Southeast—but only 27% of the current summer range remains stable. Because of this hummingbird’s demure ways and close similarity to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, it can be overlooked. Diligent searchers would do well to be on the lookout for expanding Black-chins right now.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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