Abstract
Global warming alters various avian phenological processes, including advanced reproduction and migration schedules. In birds, individual appearance is largely determined by plumage, influencing, for example, bird attractiveness, social status and camouflage. Juveniles of most passerine species replace their nest-grown plumage during the first months of life, a process that is called post-juvenile feather moult. Using data from ten natural history collections, we show that the extent of the post-juvenile moult has increased significantly over the last 212 years (1805–2016), a trend that is positively correlated with the temperature of the environment. Therefore, it seems that birds replaced more feathers under warmer conditions, causing juveniles to appear more similar to adult birds. Moreover, in several species, we describe a male–female switch in the extent of moult, with females currently replacing more feathers than males compared to the past. These results demonstrate different biological responses to climate warming by different phenotypes.
Highlights
Global warming alters various avian phenological processes, including advanced reproduction and migration schedules
We measured the extent of feather moult in 19 passerine bird species that breed in the Western Palearctic ecozone and that have various migration strategies (n = 4012 individuals; Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Fig. 1) using skin specimens stored in ten naturalhistory museum collections, and field measured live individuals in several countries
We found that over the past 212 years (1805–2016), partial moult of juveniles became more extensive, correlating with global temperature increase [global mean temperature anomalies (GMTA; see Methods); Figs. 1a and 2a]
Summary
Global warming alters various avian phenological processes, including advanced reproduction and migration schedules. Using data from ten natural history collections, we show that the extent of the post-juvenile moult has increased significantly over the last 212 years (1805–2016), a trend that is positively correlated with the temperature of the environment. It seems that birds replaced more feathers under warmer conditions, causing juveniles to appear more similar to adult birds. We show that the extent of the post-juvenile moult has increased significantly over the past 212 years (1805–2016), a trend that is positively correlated with the temperature of the environment This suggests that birds replaced more feathers under warmer conditions, and causing juveniles to appear more similar to adult birds. In several species, we find a male–female switch in moult extent, with females currently replacing more feathers than males compared to the past
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