Change to our climate puts North East birds in danger

Mar 27 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

BIRDS which symbolise the uplands of the North East are in danger from the effects of climate change, a study shows.

Hill and moorland breeding species such as curlew, golden plover and lapwing time the hatching of their young to coincide with the emergence of cranefly, or daddy long legs.

These provide food for the chicks but studies show that warming temperatures in August are dramatically reducing populations of the insects.

The fear is that the birds could be pushed towards local extinction by the end of the century.

“It is a serious threat and we could lose some of the bird species in the long term,” said Newcastle University ecologist Dr Mark Whittingham, who has been involved in the study.

It looked at a population of golden plover over a period of 25 years, but the findings also apply to other upland birds and lowland species like thrushes.

“It shows that August temperatures are a key driver of change in the golden plover population and are also linked to cranefly abundance,” said Dr Whittingham.