2023-09-23 16:05:11
It’s the big time for all migratory birds, the departure south to winter. But for several years now, the climate crisis has been playing spoilsport in these millennial journeys. Mario Ninane, member of the Watermael-Boitsfort ornithological commission, like other Natagora guides, organizes walks every year at this time to observe these great migrants: “Some migrants now leave later and return earlier in the spring, which impacts their food. They feed their young with caterpillars, and when they return the caterpillars have already become butterflies.”
For him, this is not the only impact, “A problem that can sometimes go unnoticed are diseases like avian flu which was seasonal, and which is less and less so, it is becoming almost permanent. We are also seeing more and more birds carrying ticks, in the middle of winter, this is not normal. These are probably phenomena linked to climate change.”
This seasoned observer of nature believes that birds are subject to these extreme climatic phenomena and the disruption of the seasons. They are good bio-indicators, they are the first visible victims. They have to adapt.
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