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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Birds are getting smaller. Scientists see the echo of climate change.

2019-12-06

[NBCNews] Birds have been shrinking as global temperatures rise and the climate warms, a new study published Wednesday in the journal Ecology Letters has found.

Research led by scientists at the University of Michigan examined more than 70,000 bird specimens from 52 North American migratory bird species collected between 1978 and 2016. The researchers found that body sizes for all 52 species shrank consistently over that 38-year time period while the length of wingspans grew, which suggests that birds may be forced to adapt ‐ sometimes in dramatic ways ‐ to climate change.
Or perhaps adapted to tall buildings in Chicago?

Or to more predatory birds chasing them. The populations of predatory birds had crashed by the early 1970s, reportedly as a result of DDT use. Since DDT was banned, predator bird populations have grown significantly.

"Other studies have found a relationship between temperature and body size similar to what we found, but this is the most consistent result," said Benjamin Winger, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and the study’s senior author. "What we don’t know is the extent to which the shrinking bird is an adaptive response to climate change. Are they able to keep up with warming temperatures or are they lagging behind?"

Posted by:Seeking Cure For Ignorance

#11 Rob Crawford for the win...

Posted by: Mullah Richard 2019-12-06 09:05

#10 Don't be bringing science and logic into their religious dogma. Be a nice denier, conform, be quiet, admit that you are inadequate.

Posted by: Silentbrick 2019-12-06 08:32

#9 Or they're smaller because their populations are larger and competing for a fixed or shrinking food supply.

Posted by: Rob Crawford 2019-12-06 08:23

#8 Smaller birds can more easily avoid the bird chopping machines of green energy.

Posted by: AlanC 2019-12-06 07:26

#7 Birds cannot travel north where it's cooler...

Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2019-12-06 07:02

#6 I think climate change has impacted the scientific community by evolutionary evidence of smaller brains in climate scientists over the last 40 years. Brain size is negatively correlated with the size of climate change protestor signs and the audio level of their screams and shrieking about ocean levels.

Posted by: Airandee 2019-12-06 06:14

#5 In other news, birds have a lifestyle. Who knew?

Posted by: Beau 2019-12-06 02:33

#4 ^In a quid per quo: "Poop on the heads of Democrats, or starve!"

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-12-06 01:47

#3 They are not adapting, they are just underfed - because Trump stole all their food!

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-12-06 01:41

#2 Climate change can do everything!

Posted by: Uleck Spererong9442 2019-12-06 01:00

#1 Could hardly find a non-giant turkey in the store two weeks ago.

Posted by: Glenmore 2019-12-06 00:55

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