Global warming effects? Ask a birder

Summary: Male Purple Finch.While humans dither over global warming, many American bird species are making their move.

Male Purple Finch. While humans dither over global warming, many American bird species are making their move. The National Audubon Society has looked over the past century of Christmas Bird Count records. And it is clear that hundreds of bird species are wintering further and further north. The champion mover seems to be the Purple Finch, now found over four hundred miles north of its wintering grounds four decades ago. The Wild Turkey has also moved four hundred miles north. Along the Pacific Coast the Marbled Murrelet is abandoning the southern portion of its range and moving northward as well. Some birds are not as adaptable and may face diminished range and even extinction as global warming continues. Here in Southern Oregon we're now seeing Tree Swallows in the dead of winter. Some breeding birds have moved north from California and are here year round: Red-shouldered Hawk, White-tailed Kite, Mockingbird.

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  • For those interested in assisting the collection of birding data

    The annual 'Great Backyard Bird Count' (a project sponsored by Cornell's Ornithology dept.) is this upcoming weekend (Feb 12-15). Instructions on counting and submitting your data are available at

    http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

    A simple count takes only fifteen minutes.
    CharlieSpencer_Palmetto
  • Backward interpretation?

    Wouldn't this mean they must travel farther to escape the COLD weather?

    So more of the globe is getting cooler?
    Comnenus
    • No backward interpretation needed...

      I think it means they are moving further north, and not flying as far south. IOW the southern part of their habitat is getting too warm for them. Overall they are flying the same distance.
      HooNoze
    • Not Backwards

      Though not clearly stated in this article (and what is with all the typos in
      the article?), but stated in other articles is that the birds spend their
      summer somewhere north. In the winter they fly the minimum distance
      necessary to find a habitat that isn't too cold and has food. What the
      study believes is happening is that the birds are now able to stay warm
      enough, and find enough food, in habitats that were previously too cold
      for them. Being too cold also affects the food supply if the ground is
      frozen over and/or snow covered.

      Part of the logic is that the birds will expend the least amount of energy
      possible to get to a wintering ground.
      snberk341
      • While there maybe typos in the story

        it's far easier to read than your
        broken
        and poorly
        formatted smart arse
        response.

        Maybe if you stop putting hard line breaks in and start using just the return key you could format your sentences and paragraphs to flow. That would make reading your reply so much easier. ]:)
        Linux User 147560
        • Looks fine to me

          If, Linux User, you were referring to post you linked from.... then I'm
          confused. I see a properly formatted paragraph of several sentences,
          followed by a single line break, followed by a single sentence paragraph.
          I wish I cold send you a picture. So, humbly, I suggest YMMV.

          I also don't see any "smart arse" response. He was clarifying missing
          information in the original article. As for typos, my quick reading
          identifies 6 typos in 9 sentences. Even for ZDNet standards, that's a little
          high.

          Hope you don't count this as a smart arse response.
          h_lewis
          • No not

            smart arse just lacking... and you have the same formatting issues. It's always the same players too. Took me a while to figure out what they were doing but no, their posts, and yours to, is not formatting correctly.

            One thing I have noticed is that it's never a Linux Users post that is malformed. But a Windows users... Imagine that... ]:)
            Linux User 147560
          • Not a Windows user..... try again. (NT)

            .
            h_lewis
          • Follow up to above

            Perhaps, if its formatting Linux properly, but not the other majority of
            users - then the problem is not with the other users but the forum
            software itself? Just asking you know.... with perhaps a hint of smart
            arse-ness.
            h_lewis