Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink
American Woodcock. Photo: Ryan McGrady/Wikimedia (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

How Climate Change Will Affect Birds in Maryland

Vulnerable Birds in Maryland

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.

Maryland

Flyway Atlantic Flyway
State Brief Download [PDF]
Website http://md.audubon.org

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.

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How will the American Woodcock's range be affected in Maryland?

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 Maryland 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 Maryland at risk.

Maryland's Birds and Habitats

Maryland boasts more than 440 bird species in habitats ranging from the Chesapeake Bay to the Appalachian Mountains. On the Delmarva Peninsula, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge hosts thousands of wintering geese, swans, and ducks, as well as the highest density of nesting Bald Eagles on North America’s Atlantic Coast. Assateague Island National Seashore is home to a globally significant population of Piping Plovers. In far west Maryland, mixed forests provide breeding habitat for Wood Thrushes and Blackburnian Warblers.


Climate Policy in Maryland

Electricity Generation Breakdown
9.8%
RENEWABLE
1.6 % Wind
1.6 % Biomass
5.8 % Hydro
.8 % Solar
44.3%
NUCLEAR
45%
FOSSIL FUEL
19.7 % Natural Gas
25 % Coal
.3 % Petroleum
.9%
OTHER
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets
40%
BELOW 2006
levels by 2030
Renewable Portfolio Standard
50%
BY 2030
Member of the US
Climate Alliance?
No

(Data: U.S. EIA)

Passed in 2019, the Clean Energy Jobs Act increased Maryland’s renewable energy goal from 25 to 50 percent by 2030, with advocates promising solar industry growth. Maryland’s award-winning energy efficiency program, EmPOWER, is a nationwide model for policies to reduce home-energy use.

Maryland is a participant in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States that aims to reduce carbon emissions from power plants.

Climate Threats Facing Birds and People in Maryland

Most of the state has warmed 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the last century, shifting ecosystem ranges and threatening vulnerable wildlife populations. Maryland sea levels have risen by one foot through the twentieth century, but are predicted to rise by more than three feet during the twenty-first century, intensifying storms, submerging tidal wetlands, and threatening coastal communities throughout the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coastal bays. In the coming decades, Maryland will likely experience increased coastal and inland flooding, disrupted fishing and farming industries, and decreased marsh habitat for birds and fish.


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.