Birds nesting in agricultural lands more vulnerable to extreme heat, study finds

As climate change intensifies extreme heat, farms are becoming less hospitable to nesting birds, a new study found. Researchers who examined data on over 150,000 nesting attempts found that birds in agricultural lands were 46% less likely to successfully raise at least one chick when it got really hot than birds in other areas. “I don’t think we expected it to be as extreme as it was,” said Katherine Lauck, a PhD candidate at University of California, Davis and lead author of the study published Thursday in the journal Science.