Climate change altering how birds behave
The distribution, numbers and behaviour of birds in the UK are changing because of a changing climate, according to a new report. The State of the UK’S Birds 2017 (SUKB) this year highlights how many of the UK’S species are already being affected by climate change, responding to UK average summer temperatures having increased by nearly a degree Celsius since the 1980s. It highlights how species’ distributions are moving northwards, meaning many of our rarer breeding birds are at a high risk of extinction in the UK. For the likes of Dotterel, Whimbrel, Common Scoter and Slavonian Grebe, population declines have already been considerable. On the other hand, species that currently only have a toe-hold in the UK could have opportunities for colonisation and range expansion. Some with southerly distributions in the UK have shown substantial increases in recent years, including Quail, Little Egret, Hobby, and Mediterranean Gull. Other species, such as Zitting Cisticola, may colonise southern Britain, too. Short-distance migrants such as Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs are already benefitting from the UK’S warmer, wetter winters, by increasingly overwintering here rather than migrating to southern Europe. Breeding numbers have more than doubled since 1970, by 289% and 104%, respectively. They are also expanding northwards in the UK. One of the most interesting findings is how birds have adapted their behaviour in response to warming temperatures. Swallows now arrive back in the in the UK 15 days earlier and breed 11 days earlier than in the 1960s, while many species are also delaying their return migration each autumn.