30+ Years Of Australian Records Show Alterations In Bird Migration Patterns Thanks To Climate

[hatrack]

A researcher at the weather bureau has found that some spring migrating birds are arriving many days earlier than they used to. Another critically endangered species has adapted its breeding cycle in response to climate change.

The change in migration patterns of birds has been well documented in the Northern Hemisphere, but in Australia there has not been much long-term monitoring. So Dr Lynda Chambers from the Bureau of Meteorology research centre was delighted to discover two dairy farmers had kept records of the arrival and departure time of birds on their farm since 1973.

The records of 20 species of water and land birds were taken at Middlesex in south-west Australia. "Now we've got 20, 30 years of data in some cases," she said. "We're now able to go back to them, look for climate signals that are affecting the species and see whether these are changing over time.

"So what we have found, that if we start looking at migration for example, many species are starting to change when the move to a place. So in they're way they're telling us that seasons have already altered."

EDIT

http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/11/2056317.htm?section=world

[Mnemosyne]

1. Most farmers I've ever known were sticklers about record keeping.

It is no huge surprise that farmers had kept track of migrations. It helps to know when the scoundrels are coming to feast in the fields.

My Dad's bane - Canadian geese.

I appreciate the education you offer, hatrack. Thank you. :)