MAINE PUBLIC • March 19, 2025
And as climate change accelerated by fossil fuel pollution shortens Maine’s winters, Doug Hitchcox, a staff naturalist with Maine Audubon says songbirds are arriving earlier and staying later. Across the country, common bird species are moving along with the climate changes. Between 1966 and 2013, hundreds of widespread species moved the center of their winter range 40 miles north. While some birds appear to be thriving, John Garrett from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and others are sounding alarms about the threats made worse by climate change, such as habitat loss, food scarcity and pollution. "We've lost 3 billion birds since 1970," Garrett said. "How have we lost this many birds? And why? Climate is definitely a big part of it."