As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 23 September 2012

Birds on the move

Research led by James Cook University and recently published in Nature Climate Change, shows that changes in the Australian climate have caused areas with climates suitable for individual bird species have moved hundreds of kilometres in just 60 years. Also, although warming temperatures would suggest movement toward the South Pole, shifts in areas with specific climates have occurred in all directions – north, south, east and west. 

JCU's Associate Professor Jeremy VanDerWal, who led the project, said the paper highlighted the impact of climate change on the habitats of hundreds of native bird species. 

"Just like us, individual bird species have a particular climate niche that is most suitable for them to live in," he said. "Our research shows that the Australian climate has changed significantly over the last 60 years and this has led to the climatic niches for individual bird species having moved an average of 76 kilometres and up to a maximum of nearly 500 kilometres. 

"The impact of this is that birds may have to change the areas in which they live faster than previously thought, resulting in the need for more rapid shifts in the distribution of species."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2012-09-birds.html#jCp

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