A new research paper by Audubon California’s William Monahan shows that the often surprisingly wide temperature ranges at which individual birds survive could impact our understanding of the impacts of climate change. For instance, the Blue-winged Teal can withstand ambient temperatures as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 122 degrees. Certain tropical finches, on the other hand, can’t survive at temperatures lower than 37 degrees. What’s particularly intriguing is that while a great number of birds are physiologically capable of surviving in many different and extreme temperatures, they only tend to live within a much smaller range. Monahan argues that in answering the question of why birds behave in this manner we may happen upon a better understanding of how future climate change will impact all birds.
