Terms such as global warming, carbon footprint and climate change are becoming part of every day vocabulary as people become more aware of the far reaching consequences of mankind’s abuse of the planet. Researchers at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Durham University and Cambridge University have been monitoring the effect of climate change on bird populations in the United Kingdom and have reached some disturbing conclusions.

Researchers have found that birds which favor warmer climates, such as the Cirl Bunting, Cetti’s Warbler and Dartford Warbler, are becoming more common across quite a varied range of habitats in Britain as temperatures rise. Although birding enthusiasts in these areas may welcome their new visitors, it is an indication that climate change is affecting birdlife, and not necessarily for the good. In the case of some northern species, this climate change is having a decidedly negative effect which can be seen in the falling numbers of species such as Fieldfare and Redwing, as well as the Slavonian Grebe, a bird whose range traditionally extended its southern margins as far as Scotland.

Researchers examined population trends of 42 bird species in relation to climate changes over a period of twenty-five years and their findings confirmed what they had suspected – the changes in climate over the past twenty years has had a profound effect on birdlife. Professor Brian Huntley from Durham University’s Institute of Ecosystem Science says that, taking into account that the U.K. is in the middle latitudes of Europe, researchers involved in this project expected that the ongoing climatic warming would favor bird species from the south of Europe, while adversely affecting northern bird species and the results of the research confirmed this. Professor Huntley has used the results of the research to assist him in compiling “A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds”, which points to potential changes in distribution of Europe’s regularly occurring nesting birds and confirms that urgent action needs to be taken to minimize climatic change in order to avoid catastrophic impacts on birds.

With a lot of attention being focused on governments to resolve these environment-altering issues, hopefully something will be done before it is too late for many of the little feathered creatures that share our planet.

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Biologist Robert J. Craig has spent the last seven years, seven days a week, carefully documenting the bird populations in various areas in Southern New England. The journey has taken him across more than 1 000 miles of land on foot and has required him to trudge across snow, wade across rivers and fight his way through forest undergrowth. However Craig argues that the resulting information is invaluable and should be used to make some very important decisions.

As Craig made his way through the woods of Connecticut and Rhode Island, he spent his days counting birds. He took note of which bird species where evident in a particular area, how many species were evident and what time of year they were most visible. In doing so he slowly developed a database of information that tells biologists and conservationists which areas see the most bird activity at any given period. Craig feels that the results of his research should have a massive impact on the wildlife conservation decisions since it pinpoints exactly which areas are the biggest bird hotspots in the country. By focusing conservation efforts on these areas, the limited amount of money and land available for conservation can be put to best use to protect birds and other wildlife.

One of the aspects of his research which has been most revealing was the discovery that coastal forests served as the region’s principal winter bird reservoir. Unfortunately this is also hot property when it comes to commercial developers and so the battle to preserve this land is a big one as long as it remains unprotected. Craig feels so strongly about protecting these forest habitats that he has even been willing to suggest abandoning efforts to protect other habitats, such as prairies or marshes, which support a lower level of more common species. However his suggestion has come under fire by most other biologists who feel that while the forests – and especially coastal forests – should be given the most attention, other habitats should not be abandoned. While Craig’s “eco-triage” concept is at odds with many other professionals in the conservation field, his research is generally viewed as being invaluable. The depth of the information is far greater than that gathered from bird watchers and researchers over the years and it certainly will prove to be a valuable asset to the conservation community in years to come.

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