Environmental Issue: 3 - Impact of Climate Change on Birds 🐦

Hello everyone, I am back with another post. In this environmental issue, we are going to see what are the impact on birds due to climate change. 

Birds in the sky. Credit: Pinterest

The timing of birds migration, nesting, hatching and feeding are adapted to specific conditions, such as the availability of suitable habitat and adequate food sources. These factors make birds vulnerable to climate change and global warming. In this article, we can focus the threats faced by the birds in our ecosystem. 

• Migration pattern.

• Lack of food.

• Habitat Loss.

• Sea - level rise.

• Lack of sea ice.

Migration Pattern:
Birds migrate from colder area to a warmer area or from warmer areas to colder area for breeding and reproducing. Due, to the climate change the migration pattern of birds has been changed a lot. Scientists have documented that fewer birds show up in breeding and wintering grounds and they attribute it to the increasing temperature, changing vegetation and extreme weather conditions. Birds synchronise their migratory movements with seasonal changes. But these environmental cues go for a toss with changing climate.

Birds migrate. Credits : Wikimedia commons

Lack of food : 
A number of birds has adjusted breeding times to match early spring. They arrive at the site a few weeks earlier. But due to the increasing temperature, the vegetation blooms earlier and insect hatch earlier at the site. For example, the chick of a bird hatches way after/before the catepillars are gone. Because of this they starve. 

Chicks are waiting for their mother. Credit: Wikimedia commons

Habitat Loss:
One of the major effects of climate change is the loss of habitats. While some species face shrinking ranges, other face habitat destruction. For migrating birds, flooding or desertification could spell doom. Many goose species use the siberian tundra's rocky bedrock to raise their offspring. But increasing temperature make the permafrost soil to thaw and change the habitat completely, making it impossible for the geese to breed.

Red- Breasted Goose. Credits: Wikimedia Commons.

Sea-level rise: 
Sea -level rise and eroison alter coastal wetlands. Many birds, such as piping  plovers, that inhabit coastal areas lay their eggs directly on the sand of the beach in shallow depression. The eroison of beaches and storm surges can cause nests to be lost to the ocean.

Piping Plovers and her chick. Credit : Wikimedia commons

Lack of Sea Ice: 
Climate change affect penguins in two ways - Non availability of food and nestings habitats. The adelie penguins nest on land during summer and migrate during the winter to the edge of the sea ice, where they feed at sea. As iceberg break off in warming Antartica, Adelie penguins are forced to take longer routes to find the food in the ocean.

An Adelie penguin with her chick.  Credit: Wikimedia commons.

Will birds be able to adapt to Climate Change?
In the past, species and ecosystem were able to respond to global temperature shifts because average global temperatures changed slowly. Now, the change is simply too fast for many species to adapt. Scientists are not sure if they will be able to keep up with the speed of Climate Change.

A green bee-eater. Credit: Wikimedia commons.

But, still we have time. Though we can't reduce the global warming to zero, we can try to bring it down by 20%. We can change CLIMATE CHANGE. 

We are the future.🌏

Raksita Rajagopal.

Peace Wins 😊

This is a copyrighted content.

Picture credit : Wikimedia commons.

Information from my own research.