Climate change affecting bird migration patterns

Every fall and spring, birds take to the sky and migrate to different areas in the search for better nesting locations and food resources.

But as the climate continues to shift, several bird species are altering their migration patterns.

“It's because everything is warming up," said Texas Master Naturalist Billy Teels. “So, breeding birds that typically bred south of here are now moving their breeding ranges further north, and conversely, some of the birds that bred in our area and north of here are extending their ranges northward as well during migration. For example, purple finches, which we used to have here, we seldom have here during the winter anymore. They used to breed north of here and come in winter in Texas, but now they're wintering north of here.

“Then there are birds that traditionally bred south of here like caracara, lesser goldfinch and a number of the egrets and black-bellied whistling duck that are now extending their breeding range up here. They didn't used to be here during the breeding season, but now they are because it's warmed up.”

Birds typically migrate between the months of August and November, but the peak migration period — a time when 50% or more of all the birds that will be migrating over Texas are on the move — is from the beginning of September to the end of October.

In fact, according to tx.audubon.org, the peak migration period for 2022 began on Sept. 6 and will run through Oct. 29.

Teels, who has been a Master Naturalist for 15 years, said during the Acton Nature Center monthly bird walk on Sept. 3, the group spotted many birds during their migration period, like the Nashville and yellow warbler and dickcissel.

"This last time out at the nature center, we saw like 78 Mississippi kites come through in separate kettles — that's what they call groups of kites or groups of any kind of birds of prey — some were in groups of three and four, some in eight to 10 and some in a dozen or more, just kind of circling over the center all in about a 30-minute period and then it was continuing whenever we left the center, so we got to witness an event that is not rare, but you're never there when it happens,” he said.

Teels explained that several different types of birds will be passing through Texas during their migration, while others will be coming to spend the winter here.

“We have migration that occurs from birds that breed north of here and go south of here that just pass through. We have birds that breed north of here that come here and spend the winter in Texas as Texas residents. Both those are migrants,” he said. “We also have birds that breed here like painted bunting that leave here and fly south of here, and we don't see them again until they arrive next spring. We have spring migration, which is birds that winter south of here that pass through going back north to the breeding grounds, and we also have birds that wintered in South America and Mexico that return here to breed next spring.”

Teels said that many active bird watchers will come out to the Acton Nature Center to try to spot a painted bunting.

“It's kind of a rite of passage to see the painted buntings arrive in the spring, and then, all of a sudden in August, they're all gone. They just magically appear, like in the third week of April every year and start singing,” he said. “The males leave first. They go to the western coast of Mexico and then the juveniles and females hang around at this time until the middle of September, then they leave as well. It would be accidental to see one out there from now until October, and then for sure there won't be any after October.”

He said it’s important for Hood County residents to be aware of bird migratory patterns, as well as how climate change can and will affect their trajectory.

“The bird migratory habits are changing and anything that we can do to reduce global warming would be a benefit. Some birds are able to adapt to global warming and I'm sure others won't be,” he explained.

LIGHTS OUT CAMPAIGN

One thing that residents also need to be aware of, Teels said, is the Lights Out Texas campaign.

During the fall and spring bird migration periods — and especially during the critical peak migration period that we are currently in — individuals are encouraged to turn off non-essential lights at night to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly over Texas annually.

The Lights Out Texas campaign was originally launched in 2017 by Houston Audubon and American National Insurance Company following a major bird collision event involving 400 birds in Galveston, according to texanbynature.org. The campaign was initiated as a statewide effort in spring 2020 to protect birds from light pollution.

Everyone is encouraged to abide by certain guidelines to help protect birds during their migration period, but the most important recommendation is to limit non-essential lights between the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Guidelines recommended by texanbynature.org are listed below:

⦁ Do not use landscape lighting to light up trees or gardens where birds may be resting.

⦁ For essential lights (like security and safety lighting), use the following dark skies friendly lighting practices:

– Aim lights down;

– Use lighting shields to direct light downwards and avoid light shining into the sky or trees;

– Use motion detectors and sensors so lights are only on when you need them;

– Close blinds at night to reduce the amount of light being emitted from windows.

For more information about Lights Out Texas, visit tx.audubon.org.