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 tiny and handsome Least Bittern is our only heron species with obviously different male and female plumages. Like many marsh-dwelling birds, it is threatened by habitat loss and wetland drainage. Audubon's climate model projects a 69 percent loss of current summer range by 2080, with a partially inland shift of summer range. The model also projects a distinct northward shift in winter range. However, most U.S. breeders currently winter in Middle America, so the predictions for winter expansion may yet be conservative.
Are the projected range maps different from the range maps in field guides? Find the answer here.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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