How Climate Change Will Affect Birds in Kentucky
Vulnerable Birds in Kentucky
Highly and moderately vulnerable birds may lose more than half of their current range—the geographic area where they live—as they are forced to search for suitable habitat and climate conditions elsewhere.
Kentucky
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Below, find out which of the birds that nest or spend the winter in your area are most vulnerable across their entire range. Some birds may lose range outside of your state, making the protection of their current habitat in your area even more important.
How will the Ruffed Grouse's range be affected in Kentucky?
Rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns affect birds' ability to find food and reproduce, which over time impacts local populations, and ultimately continent-wide populations, too. Some species may even go extinct in your state if they cannot find the conditions they need to survive and raise their young.
Select a warming scenario to see how this species’ range will change under increased global temperatures.
Reducing warming makes many types of birds found in Kentucky less vulnerable.
In order to hold warming steady, we must act now to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere and limit warming to 1.5 degrees. We must reduce our carbon emissions and also absorb what is produced through natural solutions like reforestation or with technology that removes carbon from the air.
Click the three different warming scenarios to explore how increased warming puts more species in Kentucky at risk.
Kentucky's Birds and Habitats
Atop the world’s longest known cave system at Mammoth Cave National Park sits a variety of forests, home in summer to breeding birds like Cerulean Warblers, Wood Thrushes, and Summer Tanagers. The oxbow lakes at Ballard Wildlife Management Area provide stopover habitat for tens of thousands of migratory geese and other birds each year. The rugged canyons and hardwood forests of Red River Gorge in Daniel Boone National Forest host breeding Ruffed Grouse and Blue-headed Vireos. John James Audubon State Park, located in Henderson, where the famed naturalist operated a store in the early 1800s, boasts a museum as well as birding in forests and fields along the Ohio River.
Climate Policy in Kentucky
RENEWABLE
6.2 % Hydro
FOSSIL FUEL
78.1 % Coal
.7 % Petroleum
OTHER
Climate Alliance?
(Data: U.S. EIA)
In 2010, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources released a statewide climate action plan as part of its wildlife action plan.
Climate Threats Facing Birds and People in Kentucky
Average annual rainfall is increasing in Kentucky, and flooding is becoming more severe throughout the Southeast. At the same time, droughts have decreased groundwater and river levels, threatening navigation, electric power generation, and public water supplies.
The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk harm people, too. Hover over or tap an area on the map to see specific threats that will affect that area as warming increases.