A consequence of global warming could be that the number of birds that migrate to Britain in Winter is dropping as they no longer need to fly as far as the UK due to warmer winters. The report does also add that the number of waterbirds here in winter has doubled since 1980, so its not all bad news.

From the article,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6950711.stm

This post was last modified: 21-08-2007 09:12 PM by Xeract.

I would have thought that milder winters would actually increase, or at least equalise, numbers of birds. In the US, there are Canada goose populations which do not migrate, and then there are migratory populations of Canada geese. The non-migratory populations are the ones which annoy people, as they produce vast quantities of fecal matter, causing lakes to have polluted water sufficient to close the waters to human use (i.e., swimming).

Same with mallards, there are migratory, wild populations, and then there are stay-at-home populations which will attack you if you don't give them a bit of bread.

Kingfisher

It is a great shame that some of these birds aren't returning to England, but in most cases aren't they just nesting in the same numbers but somewhere else? If that is the case, then as long as the birds numbers aren't declining in numbers then is there really a problem?

It's brilliant to have such a wide range of birds visiting England in the winter and we are lucky to have it, but the birds nesting in a different country is surely one of the least important problems that global warming throws at us.

The real problem is the few birds that are mentioned in the article, like the white-fronted goose, that are in real decline. Are these in decline because they dont need to visit England anymore? Or is there another reason?

I think that the fact that a lot of the birds aren't coming to the UK is a sign that there is a problem rather than being the problem itself. It doesn't matter if the birds aren't coming as far as the UK if they can find a different suitable place, but the problem seems to be that some of the birds like the white-fronted goose can't so their number are in decline.

All wildlife seems to go in cycles. Only a few years ago we were hearing alarms about the numbers of house sparrows and there was much discussion on what was causing their decline. We now have healthy populations again - if you don't believe me then come and look in my garden!

So it will be with migrating species. We have had mild winters in the past and no doubt will have again in the future. In a couple of years no doubt we will be told that we are getting the coldest winters for x numbers of decades.

Weather changes, our planet is an evolving one, we are simply in a period of milder winters at present, but in the Antarctic, the original Scott base is under threat from heavy snowfall, while the ice shelf there is growing by 8%.

So a sense of proportion is needed - and a little less scaremongering. We were told that soon we would be enjoying a Mediterranean climate, that has not happened. More and more important scientists are coming to the belief that global warming and especially the "greenhouse effect" is a load of hogwash!