Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY

Swallows shrink as climate warms

Tree swallows are becoming smaller in response to climate change, but this isn’t driven by reduced growth as chicks. The overall picture is much more complicated, with climate effects impacting adults, juveniles, males and females differently.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Gardner, J. L., Heinsohn, R. & Joseph, L. Proc. R. Soc. B 276, 3845–3852 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Shipley, J. R., Twining, C. W., Taff, C. C., Vitousek, M. N. & Winkler, D. W. Nat. Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01457-8 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Parmesan, C. & Yohe, G. Nature 421, 37–42 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gardner, J. L., Peters, A., Kearney, M. R., Joseph, L. & Heinsohn, R. Trends Ecol. Evol. 26, 285–291 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gardner, J. L. et al. Proc. R. Soc. B 286, 20192258 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Weeks, B. C. et al. Ecol. Lett. 23, 316–325 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ryding, S., Klaassen, M., Tattersall, G. J., Gardner, J. L. & Symonds, M. R. E. Trends Ecol. Evol. 36, 1036–1048 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Millien, V. et al. Ecol. Lett. 9, 853–869 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Ryding.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ryding, S., McQueen, A. Swallows shrink as climate warms. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 783–784 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01463-w

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01463-w

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing