Extreme heat is also causing tropical bird numbers to plummet

Even when they are sheltered from direct pressures like deforestation and pollution, birds in tropical regions are disappearing because of climate change, according to a study published Monday, August 11, in the scientific journal Nature Ecology & Evolution . Since 1950, episodes of extreme heat, which are increasing in frequency and intensity under the weight of climate change, have led to an average reduction of 25% to 38% in the abundance of birds nesting in forests that were originally green and humid.

Some species have been hit hard: the legendary royal flycatcher, with its flamboyant red crest, has seen its population fall by 90%, while the aurora trogon, with its yellow belly, and the red-backed kingfisher, recognizable by its wings in shades of blue and purple, have lost nearly 80% of their congeners.

These declines were "very significant, dramatic" and prompted British climatologist Maximilian Kotz, a specialist in extreme events and the consequences of climate change, and two of his two bird expert colleagues, to work on this collapse .