Climate change affects the synchrony of many species in ecosystems. Due to changes in global average temperatures, many migratory species are changing their routes and rhythms. This can have a significant impact on how these species survive and adapt, as detailed in how the Climate change affects the survival of migratory birds, as well as in the adaptation of mammals and birds to climate change.
This occurs in the case of the common swallow, which each time arrives earlier in spring to the Iberian Peninsula. As the effects of climate change increase and global temperatures rise, swallows are arriving in Spain earlier on their migratory route.
Records of the Barn Swallow
Since the middle of the last century, an increasing trend has been observed in swallows. And it is that each time they arrive earlier in Spain in spring, during their migratory route. They have come to Spain up to a month than they normally do, or what they should do. This variation in migration may be related to the climate change and its effects and also with changes in threatened deserts.
It is essential to obtain data on the activities of the barn swallow in order to reach conclusions. SEO / BirdLife's Birds and Climate Program They are in charge of accumulating the annual arrival data of the swallows over the years, in order to later be able to compare them and generate that trend. This activity consists of recording the first dates on which the different phenological phenomena occur, such as the migration of birds, the flowering of almond trees, the beginning of reproduction or the appearance of the first insects. These are some of the factors that represent the beginning of spring.
Migratory bird species cross the Strait of Gibraltar when they see favorable conditions
All this activity is possible only if citizens from all corners of the country collaborate by noting the activity or giving information about the swallows. Since the beginning of this work, more than a thousand volunteers have contributed more than 100.000 records on the activity of the swallow. This is crucial to understand how climate change impacts various areas and its relationship with swallow migration.
Blaise Molina works in the SEO / BirdLife monitoring area and has explained that:
“The appearance of the first swallow in our town or city, the date of the stork's return to its nest, the observation of the first swifts adorning the urban skies or the first hearing of the nightingale's song in groves and riverbanks, are some of the records that are made on these dates. But its importance lies in the passage of time, which is how the variation in the migratory patterns of some species can be assessed or whether climate change affects them "
The relationship between weather and birds
Clearly the climate is a determining factor for the migration and behavior of birds. The climatic conditions are those that decide the arrival and departure of the birds, the delay or advance of the flowering or the boiling of the insects. In relation to the migration of birds, it is vitally important to take into account the prevailing meteorological conditions in the area of passage of birds, such as the Strait of Gibraltar.
It is at this point where the easterly winds can produce more delay in the arrival of migratory species if they blow strong. The swallows they prefer to wait to cross the strait if they see that the conditions they are not so favorable. This situation in which the swallows prefer to wait for the situation to improve has been taking place since last week, in which the rainy and windy storm in the Alboran Sea caused the swallows to be accumulating on the African coasts while waiting that the situation improves.
Spring is coming for the birds
At this time of year, the almond blossom has already been recorded in the south and much of the center of the Iberian Peninsula, bringing with it the arrival of the first migratory birds, such as the barn swallow, the house martin, the great horned cuckoo, and the black kite, which begin their expansion northward, while others leave the Iberian Peninsula for more northern latitudes, such as the common crane and the greylag goose. This indicates that climate change is affecting the migration and biological cycles of birds, an aspect reflected in the premature arrival of these species. In this context, it is important to consider that Germany is also experiencing the effects of climate change. which can be parallel.
In urban areas, some species begin their reproductive activity, starting the construction of nests, the courtship of species such as the blackbird, etc. Climate change is causing species to change their “schedules” and their activitiesFurthermore, these phenological activities occur more rapidly in cities than in nature, as cities act as heat islands.