Audubon's Birds and  Climate Report makes it clear that many of North Carolina’s birds will be in trouble if action is not taken, and soon. The results of the study show that about half of all birds in North America  will lose a significant portion of their range over the next 60 years. Of those, 152 regularly occur in Arkansas, including that iconic bird the Mallard. Birds may not be able to adapt to the changes in their habitats that climate change is bringing, making it urgent to protect the areas they are likely to move to as indicated in the Audubon study.

Importance of Ranges

A bird’s range is anywhere that it travels during its annual life cycle of wintering, breeding, nesting or migrating. A range covers all the places a bird uses as it lives its life. Right now, birds are adapted to the habitats in their range. If the areas or ranges that they use change in any significant way – for example, there is more or less rainfall – the habitat and food birds rely on in their range may not be there prompting the them to move. Research shows that many birds have already shifted their ranges northward.

Downloadable Resources

152 Climate Threatened Arkansas Birds