American goldfinch: Mdf via Wikimedia Commons. There's an
interesting database online through the US Forest Service called
the Climate Change Bird Atlas. It's based on another database,
the Climate Change Tree Atlas (both are forecasts for eastern
forests and birds). One leads to the other, since the fate of
forests will affect the future of many species of birds. From
the USDA/Forest Service site: Changing forests mean changing
habitat for the wildlife species that depends on them. The
current and modelled distribution of 150 bird species is
presented in the accompanying Climate Change Bird Atlas. The
database is interactive and reasonably easy to figure out. Here
you can see one potential future for the American goldfinch, the
iconic state bird of three widely separated states—New Jersey,
Iowa, and Washington. The goldfinch is a truly common bird
that's benefited greatly from living alongside us, thriving at
weedy roadsides and backyard bird feeders. American goldfinch
abundance change map: USDA/Forest Serv