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.
Although not currently the focus of intensive management, the Gray Vireo is uncommon and local throughout its limited breeding range in the Four Corners region of the U.S. It breeds only in pinyon-juniper environments in arid and rocky foothills, and it is eagerly sought by birdwatchers. Audubon’s climate model projects an almost complete shift in climate space for this habitat specialist, with only 3% of the current range remaining suitable by 2080, even though the climate space may increase greatly. It is an open question if this species would be able to take advantage of the new, and far-flung, summer regions.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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