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.
Often seen coursing low over grasslands, the Northern Harrier can be easily identified by a white rump and long, narrow, wings held up in a “V.” It is a common and widespread bird across all but the most northern reaches of Canada and the continental states. Projections show its current winter range (which also extends well into Middle America) to be quite stable. Audubon's climate model shows that the American population of this species, which is sometimes treated separately from birds in the Old Word, may undergo a shift northward and experience a significant contraction of summer range, losing 85 percent of its current range during that season.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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