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.
A flash of black, white, and geranium red through an oak tree in a southwestern canyon will probably turn out to be a Painted Redstart. This species is named after a superficial similarity to the rather unrelated American Redstart, and the Painted Redstart’s white-patched tail lends the species to perhaps be more properly called the “Painted Whitestart.” (Start means tail.) There are few data for this species in the U.S., which constrains projections. However, the Audubon climate model predicts nearly total shift in winter climate space in the southwestern United States, and on a pace and scale that this species may have challenges matching.
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.
