Iconic Washington state birds threatened by climate change

The news has been bad for birds in the last few months, but there is still hope if we take action now.

The National Audubon Society released a comprehensive study in October that shows two-thirds of the species of North American birds are endangered by projected levels of climate change.

This report, “Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink,” documents how birds would be devastated by a projected 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) increase in temperature.

But if we can lower the increase to 1.5 degrees C, as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Paris Accord, we can help improve the chances for 76 percent of those species.

Iconic Washington species such as the Rufous Hummingbird, which dazzles us in the spring with its brilliant colors, the White-crowned Sparrow, which fills our suburban neighborhoods with song every spring and summer, and the Swainson’s Thrush, which lifts our hearts in the woods with its ethereal songs, would be devastated by a 3 degree temperature rise.

Not only would the hummingbird’s breeding habitat be affected (losing 71 percent of its current range), but the species times its migration to coincide with flowering plants in our lowlands in early spring migration and in our mountains during fall migration.

The timing of migration, in which tiny hummingbirds fly thousands of miles to Mexico for the winter, would be totally disrupted.

The National Audubon study follows recent reports and historical analyses that show a 3 billion decline in individual birds over the last 50 years in the U.S. and Canada. This study looks forward to the future to project the impact of climate change. It uses scientific data to show that 389 out of 604 species are at risk of extinction from climate change.

Data include 140 million bird observations from 70 data sets, including 50 years of records from the annual Tacoma Christmas Bird Count held by Tahoma Audubon, our local chapter.

Without significant climate change mitigation, Washington average temperatures are projected to increase from 2010 levels to the end of the century by 6.2 degrees C (11 degrees F) during the warmest month and 3.9 degrees C (7.1 degrees F) during the coldest month.

But we in the Pacific Northwest have also demonstrated effective action to reduce the increase in global temperatures by addressing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, Audubon pushed for the successful passage of our nation’s strongest legislation for 100-percent clean electricity in the 2019 Washington Legislature. We will push for similar improvements in our transportation system in the next legislative session.

Other steps we can take include protecting habitat for birds and using more native plants, which provide more food for birds. But the most important step is to address the biggest threat to birds – climate change.

This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Iconic Washington state birds threatened by climate change."