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.
The charming little Common Redpoll can be found foraging on the “cones” of alder trees in the cold northern winter. In some years, it irrupts southward and descends onto feeders of lucky birdwatchers. Audubon's climate model predicts that only 23 percent of the current breeding range is likely to be stable, and total suitable climate space is projected to decrease by nearly a quarter. The winter range, though shifting northward slightly, looks to be more stable, with a 38% shift out of the current range and a 19% decrease in total area with suitable climate. The Common Redpoll is also found across northern Eurasia.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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