SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The drought is having a significant impact on a wide variety of birds that rely on California and Oregon marshlands and waterways for food and rest during their migration.
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Every year, species of migratory birds, from egrets to geese, fly south for the winter. But with the worsening drought, wildlife are having to travel further for adequate ecosystem conditions, imperiling their health and ability to create offspring.
West Coast birder and author Harry Fuller warned the drought has dried up many of the marshes and estuaries that the birds rely on. "They need, basically, a motel and a restaurant," he said. Fuller explained that not only are the marshes drying, but plants are dying and insects are not breeding — all factors which migratory birds rely on.
Birders in drought-plagued Eastern Oregon have observed large flocks of birds that used to eat in the fields and stop in the marshes now fly by due to the lack of food.
As many as 80 bird species are already in decline because of climate change and the drought will only make things worse. "More birds will starve, get injured, die, get lost. It's really bad," Fuller said.
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