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.
Where there are cliffs and canyons in the American West, there are White-throated Swifts. These birds’ nests are generally safe because of their inaccessibility, and populations are stable in most areas. Range extension northward into British Columbia has been documented, and climate change is thought to be at play. While showing some potential expansion in both season, Audubon's climate model projects a 73 percent loss of current summer range by 2080. Potential expansion may be difficult for the species to realize for two reasons. First, the species requires steep rock faces for nesting and roosting. Second, it will not flourish without a strong aerial prey base—a resource known to be declining in many regions.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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