Climate change 'catastrophic' for birds

Last Modified: 15 Jan 2008
By: Krishnan Guru-Murthy

British birds are facing a potential ecological disaster due to climate change.

Familiar birds like the grouse, snow bunting and osprey could be driven hundreds of miles north - or even face extinction - by the end of the century because of global warming. T

hat's according to a new report by Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Durham University.

The Scottish Crossbill is one of species under threat. It currently lives only in the Highlands, in pine forests. But by 2100 - global warming would force the bird much further north - into the potentially hostile terrain of Iceland and would cease to exist in Scotland.

But climate change will also bring in new birds to Britain for the first time. With a mixture of black and white stripes, the Hoopoe is one of Europe's most dazzling birds.

At the moment it's only found in southern and central Europe. But by the end of the century - the bird's climate space will move into the UK and will breed in Southern England for the first time.