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.
Birds with “Boreal” in their name should set off alarm bells in any discussion of climate change, as the boreal forest is one of the biomes believed to be at greatest risk from warming temperatures and disrupted precipitation regimes. Audubon's climate model predicts that this forest owl, a quintessential inhabitant of spruce–fir forests across the northern hemisphere, will suffer major losses in the face of climate change. Boreal Owls in the southern portions of the species’ range—extending south to New Mexico—may disappear altogether. Their forest domains, already deteriorating from fire suppression and insect outbreaks, may be nearly wiped out by climate change.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
It's easier than you think to make a difference. Become an Audubon member today to help birds facing climate change.
