Overview

• Researchers report more birds delaying flights south or remaining at higher latitudes due to rising winter temperatures and wildfire disturbances.
• Altered schedules leave migrants arriving before or after peak food availability, increasing starvation risk and reducing breeding success.
• Steep species declines illustrate the strain, including roughly a 75% drop in Red Knots and documented losses in Black-throated Blue Warblers and Swainson's Thrush.
• Studies cited attribute pressures to warming Arctic breeding grounds, sea-level rise squeezing coastal stopovers, and habitat loss along migration routes.
• Broader assessments estimate about three billion North American birds lost since 1970 and project 389 species becoming vulnerable within 50 years, with implications for pollination and pest control.