“To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
– Mark Twain
Experts say that birds are shrinking and disappearing in North America, and that it is due to climate change – which is what they expected to find.
Why birds are shrinking in size | Salon.com
The article specifically blamed summer temperatures.
The National Climate Assessment shows that summer temperatures have gotten much cooler in the US over the past century.
Temperature Changes in the United States – Climate Science Special Report
The US has been cooling for a century.
The frequency of warm and hot days has declined.
Summer starts later than it used to.
Summers end earlier than they used to.
Winters aren’t warming either.
Local Weather Forecast, News and Conditions | Weather Underground
Fall/winter snow extent is increasing, indicating that polar air masses are moving further south.
Migratory birds, by definition, live in a huge range of climates and temperatures. I took this picture of a Red Tailed Hawk in Boulder yesterday.
Here is one I took in Phoenix on New Years Day.
I took this Kestrel picture two days ago in Boulder.
Here is one I took in Phoenix in May during a week with 100 degree weather.
Northeast of Phoenix on New Years Day, 2019
Scottsdale on February 22, 2019.
West of Boulder on the first day of summer, 2019.
There are huge numbers of factors affecting birds, including habitat loss and pesticide usage. The authors assumed what they were seeing was due to climate change, without producing any evidence to support it. Here is another article discussing the same theories, which said that they don’t hold up to scrutiny.
Essay no. 4, American Kestrel — Montana Bird Advocacy
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”
– Richard P. Feynman
Superstitions about climate lead to bad policy, which produce actual reductions in bird populations.
