Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Birds are a diverse group of chordates. Birds are a good bioindicator of environmental problems such as pollution and climate change, and it has been found that a lot of migratory birds choose to stay nowadays, which indicates that the climate is starting to change.
This literature review examines how birds, both flying and non-flying, are affected by climate change, environmental pollution, and human impact. The study shows that the ability to fly provides an evolutionary advantage through increased mobility, making it easier for flying birds to escape threats such as predators, drought, heat waves and habitat destruction. Flightless birds cannot migrate as far and are more vulnerable to human colonization, environmental changes, and climate changes, especially since many live on isolated islands. But despite this, flying birds faces many challenges too, like plastic pollution and competition for food and bird nests if migratory birds choose to stay because of the warmer climate. Birds have managed to find strategies to escape certain problems. For example, flying birds have begun to move further north when climate change has made it too hot in their original habitat, and some flightless birds have begun to adapt to living in water. However, there is a problem that eventually the species that prefer cold climates will have nowhere to escape to if they migrate as far north as they can, and climate change continues. Plastic pollution is also a problem for birds, as birds often can’t notice the difference between plastic and their natural food. Protecting birds requires reduced emissions, improved waste management and targeted nature conservation measures.