Changing bird behavior could have dire implications for humans: scientist

Is it the sign of the a-flock-alypse?

Scientists are warning that climate change is disrupting bird migration patterns, which could have potentially dire implications for both our feathered friends and humankind alike.

“There’s this very close relationship between where birds are when on the planet and what’s happening with the climate and what’s happening with weather, right?” Andrew Farnsworth, a migration ecologist and a visiting scientist at Cornell University, told NBC Connecticut.

He explained that the effect isn’t just localized — the fiasco is affecting avian ecosystems across the globe like an apocalyptic butterfly effect.

“A lot of that connects to what’s going on in the Arctic, what’s going on in the Boreal forests, where there are wildfires, where there are challenges that birds are facing,” he said.

According to a recent release by Binghamton University, State Of University (SUNY) the birds — some of which migrate thousands of miles across continents to get to their destination — have their preferred routes and even special “gas” stops where they fuel up before the long journey.

Because of climate change, birds that base their fly-tinerary on day length and other cues might show up too early or too late to a habitat or find that their favorite bug at these pitstops is no longer there. The release analogized this phenomenon to “taking a long road trip only to find all of the restaurants or hotels along the way are closed.”

As a result, birds end up starving and/or unable to find a suitable mate.

“Birds are having to move to new areas because the current areas that they have inhabited for quite a long time are no longer suitable to their particular needs,” said Justin Mann, a behavioral ecologist in the university’s Department of Biological Sciences.

Extreme weather — which has been on the rise amid climate change — could also throw a monkey wrench in the avians’ intercontinental pilgrimages. With hurricane season extending later and later, the feisty flyers are more likely to run into a storm while crossing the Gulf of Mexico.

This comes as the world’s birdlife is already on the brink. A 2019 study by Cornell University in Ithaca found that approximately three billion birds have died off since 1970.

The National Audubon Society has warned that 389 North American bird species will become extinct within the next half-century.

Along with breaking the hearts of avian lovers, this unfortunate trend could have major ramifications worldwide. Roughly 5%of plants rely on birds to pollinate them, meaning that die-offs could cause food production to plummet, thereby disrupting global ecosystems.

On an economic level, dwindling bird numbers can impact the production of cash crops such as coffee and chocolate or pharmaceutical precursors.

Several species in the US in the US have been affected by shifting migration patterns, including the Red Knot, Swainson’s Thrush, and Black-throated Blue Warblers, which have seen their populations decline due to dwindling food supplies on their migration route from North America to the Caribbean.

Red Knots, a shorebird that stops over in the US while migrating from the Arctic to South America, have seen their populations decline by around 75 percent due to various factors. These have included warming arctic temperatures disrupting their breeding grounds and rising sea levels encroaching on their coastal feeding sites.

And while some avians have managed to adjust their flight plans in line with changing temps, others haven’t been as adaptable. “We do see birds track climate change, obviously some are managing to do it, but the challenge is for those that can’t,” said Farnsworth.

Ornithologists suggest that we can try to help birds during their migration marathon by switching off our lights off at night — as light pollution can confuse them — and by setting out bird feeders and baths.