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.
Immortalized by a baseball team and named for the colors of the second Lord Baltimore’s coat of arms, this species is a common breeder across much of eastern North America in areas with large broad-leafed trees. Cottonwoods are a particular favorite for placing its long, pendulous nest. If it can adapt to the changing climate, a substantial increase in climatically suitable area and relatively stable summer range are projected—both potentially good news for the species. However its limited North American winter range may shrink. Most Baltimore Orioles winter in the Neotropics, thus additional data from that region will strengthen Audubon's climate model predictions.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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