May 2019 - Migratory birds may travel great distances to take advantage of optimal feeding conditions. For example, birds that eat bugs may be adapted to arrive at their spring breeding grounds just as insects are emerging en masse after a cold winter. Other birds may journey to escape seasonal challenges like frigid temperatures. But now Earth’s climate is changing fast, in many ways and at many spatial scales. Such changes have the potential to cue birds to migrate at the wrong time relative to the environmental conditions they may be relying on along their route, or at their destination. Luckily, research can help us understand if and how our local birds are responding to climate change.