Survival by Degrees: 389 Bird Species on the Brink

Two-thirds of North American birds are at increasing risk of extinction from global temperature rise.

As the climate changes, so will the places birds need.

Audubon scientists took advantage of 140 million observations, recorded by birders and scientists, to describe where 604 North American bird species live today—an area known as their “range.” They then used the latest climate models to project how each species’s range will shift as climate change and other human impacts advance across the continent.

The results are clear: Birds will be forced to relocate to find favorable homes. And they may not survive.

If we take action now, we can improve the chances for hundreds of bird species.

By stabilizing carbon emissions and holding warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, 76 percent of vulnerable species will be better off, and nearly 150 species would no longer be vulnerable to extinction from climate change.

Click the three different warming scenarios to explore how increased warming makes more species vulnerable.

Bird Species at Risk

Explore more birds threatened by climate change around the country.
Allen's Hummingbird
Selasphorus sasin
Hummingbirds
American Goldfinch
Spinus tristis
Finches
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Thrushes
Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbula
Blackbirds and Orioles
Cerulean Warbler
Setophaga cerulea
Wood Warblers
Common Loon
Gavia immer
Loons
Greater Sage-Grouse
Centrocercus urophasianus
Pheasants and Grouse
Hooded Warbler
Setophaga citrina
Wood Warblers
Lark Bunting
Calamospiza melanocorys
New World Sparrows
Nashville Warbler
Leiothlypis ruficapilla
Wood Warblers
Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
Ducks and Geese
Piping Plover
Charadrius melodus
Plovers
Purple Finch
Haemorhous purpureus
Finches
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta canadensis
Nuthatches
Royal Tern
Thalasseus maximus
Gulls and Terns
Sage Thrasher
Oreoscoptes montanus
Mockingbirds and Thrashers
Sandhill Crane
Antigone canadensis
Cranes
Scarlet Tanager
Piranga olivacea
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and Buntings
Semipalmated Plover
Charadrius semipalmatus
Plovers
Wood Thrush
Hylocichla mustelina
Thrushes
Great Gray Owl. Mosaic: Charis Tsevis. Owl reference photo: Niall Benvie/NPL/Minden Pictures

Read the Special Climate Issue of Audubon Magazine 

Our science shows that climate change threatens 389 species. This issue of Audubon focuses on solutions to help these birds. 

Great Gray Owl. Mosaic: Charis Tsevis. Photo: Niall Benvie/NPL/Minden Pictures
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Data visualizations and design: Stamen Design. Cover animation: Alex Tomlinson/Audubon; Photos.
Site build: Vilien Zein & Alexander Roy & Andrei Koshkin.