From Yale Climate Connections
“Spring is coming. And soon, tree swallows will start building nests. But as the climate changes, the birds are nesting earlier in the spring. “It’s getting warmer overall. They’re thinking, OK, it’s a good time to breed, to lay my eggs,” says Lily Twining of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior in Germany. She says that despite recent warming, late-season cold snaps remain common. Those cold snaps can harm newborn chicks. Hatchlings cannot regulate their body temperature, so they are vulnerable to hypothermia. And the insects they eat stop flying in cold weather, potentially leaving the chicks to starve.” |
