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Birds Wintering Farther North, Audubon Says
Associated Press news story, February 10
As printed in the Portland Press Herald
"An Audubon Society study...found that more than half of 305 birds species in North America, a hodgepodge that includes robins, gulls, chickadees and owls, are spending the winter about 35 miles farther north than they did 40 years ago.
The purple finch – New Hampshire's state bird – was the biggest northward mover. Its wintering grounds are now more along the latitude of Milwaukee, Wis., instead of Springfield, Mo.
Bird ranges can expand and shift for many reasons, among them urban sprawl, deforestation and the supplemental diet provided by backyard feeders. But researchers say the only explanation for why so many birds over such a broad area are wintering in more northern locales is global warming."
Read the full article here. And let us know if you have seen any birds this winter that you haven't seen around your yard before. Thanks!
Beth Dimond
PS - For more about birds and global warming, read our interview acclaimed conservation ecologist Dr. Jeff Wells.
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