Protecting habitat is vital. It is vital for the climate and it is vital for wildlife like this beautiful oriole (click here). The oriole, no different than the robin or bluejay are very hearty birds. When they start to flounder in numbers we are all in trouble.
By Emily Holden
If the world experiences 3C warming, the Baltimore oriole is predicted to lose 57% of its wintering habitat range, while also facing threats from fire weather, spring heat, heavy rain and urbanization.
Two-thirds of bird species in North America (click here) are at risk of extinction because of the climate crisis, according to a new report from researchers at the Audubon Society, a leading US conservation group.
The continent could lose 389 of the 604 types of birds studied. The species face threats to their habitats from rising temperatures, higher seas, heavy rains and urbanization.
Those at risk include the wood thrush, a well-known songbird, and the Baltimore oriole, the mascot of Maryland’s baseball team. The recognizable common loon could disappear, as could the vibrant mountain bluebird.
Bird extinctions are yet another face of the human-caused biodiversity crisis threatening up to a million animal and plant species. A related study from Cornell University last month found the US and Canada lost one in four birds – or 3 billion total – since 1970.
“Birds are indicators of the health of our environment, so if they disappear, we’re certainly going to see a lot of changes in the landscape,” said Brooke Bateman, the senior researcher who wrote the report. “If there are things changing with birds we have to understand that the environment is changing for us as well.”
