Survival By Degrees: About the Study
We've answered some common questions regarding our latest climate study here
Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink
Two-thirds of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise.
As the climate changes, so will the places birds need.
Audubon scientists took advantage of 140 million observations, recorded by birders and scientists, to describe where 604 North American bird species live today—an area known as their “range.” They then used the latest climate models to project how each species’s range will shift as climate change and other human impacts advance across the continent.
The results are clear: Birds will be forced to relocate to find favorable homes. And they may not survive.
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What is a season?Warming scenario:Why these temperatures?
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In a northern meadow in June, you might hear cheerful clicks, buzzes, and trills: the song of a Bobolink. Audubon's report shows its breeding range shifting northward, ceding up to 88 percent of its current territory to climate change. Fortunately, this species is known for seeking out new areas—but to move in it needs grasslands to develop first.View this bird >Map Legend
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Birds and Climate Visualizer
Take it personally: Climate change is a serious threat to birds and your community. Enter your location to see which impacts from climate change are predicted for your area, and how birds near you will be affected.
Search Bird Species At Risk
If we take action now, we can improve the chances for hundreds of bird species.
By stabilizing carbon emissions and holding warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, 76 percent of vulnerable species will be better off, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to extinction from climate change.
Click the three different warming scenarios to explore how increased warming makes more species vulnerable.
Warming scenario:Why these temperatures?
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Bird Species at Risk
Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
Illustrations: Thoka Maer
Read the Special Climate Issue of Audubon Magazine
Our science shows that climate change threatens 389 species. This issue of Audubon focuses on solutions to help these birds.
Great Gray Owl. Mosaic: Charis Tsevis. Photo: Niall Benvie/NPL/Minden Pictures
More Reading
Birds Are Telling Us It's Time to Take Action on Climate
Global warming poses an existential threat to two-thirds of North American bird species—but there's still time to protect them. Audubon's new climate report says we have to act now.
A Field Guide to the Future of North American Birds
Audubon’s new climate report warns of massive avian loss if we don’t change course and stabilize global carbon emissions.
In Canada’s Boreal Forest, a New National Park Faces the Wrongs of the Past—and Guards Our Climate Future
Thaidene Nëné, declared this summer, is a milestone for an Indigenous-led conservation movement that can help keep carbon in the ground and protect crucial habitat as the planet warms.
The Fight to Save Pine Island
As rising seas imperil its historic structures and famed waterfowl flocks, staff at the Audubon sanctuary are determined to defend the refuge by saving its wetlands.
An Overheating Gulf of Maine Is Now Forcing Wildlife to Adapt—or Move
Rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine is shifting the marine food web, putting already endangered Roseate Terns and their broods at even greater risk. Figuring out how to help these seabirds could point the way for safeguarding other species.
Data visualizations and design: Stamen Design. Cover animation: Alex Tomlinson/Audubon; Photos.
Site build: Vilien Zein & Alexander Roy & Andrei Koshkin.