Feathered friends bring something special to our natural world, whether it be the cheery song of an American robin, the chipping of a sparrow, the numerous calls of the northern cardinal, the bright color of a migrating warbler or the sight of a raptor flying above. These are just some of the many birds you may encounter on your next hike.
This is an excerpt from the Wild Ones Journal
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When you are aware of nature, a new world opens for you. Now, imagine that world without the glorious noise or striking appearance of birds. How quiet would our outside world be? How dull would the bare tree branches be?
Climate change is affecting the world around us in more ways than we can even imagine. Species are becoming less numerous, rare or shifting ranges in response to climatic variables. Education and research are more important than ever in understanding the scope of the problem. As conservationists, our message is critical. We encourage others to take action and be part of the solution.
If you are familiar with the birds in your backyard, you may have noticed that some years bring large groups of the same species. The cause for this is food availability and it’s driven by shifts in the climate. In certain years, trees will “mast” or produce large quantities of seed. Masting occurs generally by region, requiring specific climate conditions for trees to store enough energy to produce large quantities of seed. When trees produce lots of seed, that provides food for large quantities of birds.
However, when the opposite occurs, birds will migrate to other locations in search of food. This sequence of events is referred to as an irruption. Perhaps the most common irruptive species are pine siskins, red-breasted nuthatches and snowy owls. While scientists are researching the patterns of irruption years and masting, you can play an important role in data collection. Citizen scientists can help researchers by contributing their sightings to datasets like Project FeederWatch or eBird. Sightings can then be used by various researchers to understand how the climate is changing the patterns of birds.
Providing habitat and food are other ways that you can make a positive change for our feathered friends. Planting native plant species provides critical habitat and food that allows bird species to thrive. Native plant species support a vast amount of life. One oak tree can support hundreds of caterpillar and moth species, which many young nestlings depend on. While insects are critical to the successful fledging of many nestlings, they are not the only essential food source.
Native plants that produce seeds and fruits are also an important part of the equation. Climate change is impacting these delicate interactions at every level with great complexity. Shifts in the timing of insect emergence and bird migrations concern many biologists studying phenology. Without food resources, pairing and mating necessary for population recovery cannot occur.
Climate change is also affecting the nesting patterns of migratory species. Unprecedented cold snaps and unpredictable weather can affect the success of a new nest or nestlings, causing yet another decline. However, there is hope and we can make a difference.
As climate change impacts the food groups birds depend on — insects, seeds, fruits, and berries — it is important to maximize your impact. You can make a difference by planting prairie species that flower at different times to promote seed or berry availability throughout the fall/winter seasons, or by planting only native species that promote a flourishing ecosystem.
Creating and preserving a habitat that supports a changing ecosystem is vital to the mission of The Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. The Arboretum seeks to fulfill the mission set forth by our founders, Beeman and Bertie Dawes, “enriching lives through the conservation of trees, nature and history.” One of the focuses of that mission is to create a habitat that supports a changing climate. Each year, The Arboretum collects native seeds in order to restore large areas of prairie, wetlands or woodlands. Each restoration or reforestation area poses a different research question. Understanding how climate affects different plant and/or tree species is one of the overarching themes of this research.
The Dawes Arboretum sustainably collects seed from the southern areas of a plant species’ range. This ensures that as climate predictions of warming temperatures occur, the plant already has an advantage in the extremes it can tolerate. Sustainable collecting of seed is another critical tenet of creating a habitat. The Dawes Arboretum follows a collection policy containing rules on how much seed to collect in any given area, and the storage/processing of the seed in order to promote the best possible germination. Sustainable collecting allows for you to collect a few seeds to create a new habitat, while also leaving seeds for the birds that depend on them in the fall and winter months.
While climate change looms, it is important to focus on the actions that we can take to improve the outcome. A few of these actions include educating ourselves on the climate research initiatives that are occurring, creating native habitat that supports the largest diversity of species, and contributing to community science by closely observing the natural world around us. We all have the power to make a difference for birds and the world they depend on.
Latteman, H. (2022). In the face of change, how you can make a difference for birds. Wild Ones Journal, 35(4), 11–12.
