Gray Jays fighting a changing climate

Gray jays store food over the winter that allows them and their young to survive through to spring. Climate change is causing freezes to come later so that the food spoils before the winter. This is just one of many stories about how climate change is harming birds. A year ago, Audubon published an analysis of four decades of Christmas Bird Count observations that you can find in our library. Their observations revealed that birds are moving north as temperatures warm. Others moved inland away from warmer coastal areas.

Of course this is not a healthy solution for many birds. At a certain point, moving north or inland so changes the habitat, food, predators and many other factors that contribute to happy, healthy birds. The report describes it as being “on the move to an uncertain fate.” Waterbirds will find that climate change is drying the wetlands on which they depend. Coastal birds dependant on saltwater cannot move inland and so move north to habitats of varying suitability. Grassland birds do not have many similar habitats into which they can move and woodland birds will depend on the continued health of forests in the north.

All of this speaks to why we need to reduce our dependence on oil, invest in a clean energy economy, and get strong limits on greenhouse gas emissions in place.