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.
For decades, forestry practices—emphasizing snag removal, salvage logging, and fire suppression—have negatively affected the Vaux’s Swifts arboreal nest sites. More recently, wildlife researchers are documenting sharp declines in this aerial insectivore’s prey base; even where suitable habitat exists, there may not be enough food. Now the species must contend with climate change. Audubon's climate model forecasts a 99 percent loss of the already beleaguered summer range. Unlike the closely related Chimney Swift, the Vaux’s Swift does not readily colonize artificial nest sites, so active management of western forests and their insect prey will be essential going forward.
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
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