I have been noticing that many bird species that used to leave my area 9Boston, MA), now hand around, well into early winter. for example: robins used to leave in early september, now i see them here in late November. Cada geese now stay here through the winter, and I still see a few gold finches around. is this beacuse of warming? I though migratory birds took their cue from the shortening hours of daylight? or is the warmer-then-normal fall weather allowing insect populations to breed, and furnish food? another question; if winters here become so mild that insects can survive through the winter, will the birds just decide, basically, to forgoe that long trip to mexico, and jsut stay permanently? Would this have bad effectes for the winter birds 9like chickadees)?
The idea of the first robin of spring has always been bogus. Some of them have always wintered over. For some other species, climate change could well be involved (not that I’m an expert on this stuff.) There have been reports of warm-water fish moving farther north than before. In the northern hemisphere, that is.
As for the Canada geese, their population has grown so much that they probably have to stay put, so the southern ponds and golf courses won’t be waist-deep in geese.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500877.html A
others see the same thing.
Like another drive by post perhaps?
Sorry for the hijack…doesn’t look the the thread is taking off in any event. As a sop, I’ll say that I’ve heard some similar things about several fish species…but I think its too early to say that bird migrations are being effected by Global Warming. There are several other factors that could be effecting them…if indeed they are being effected at all.
-XT