A beautiful bird will disappear from our world due to the climate crisis

Cartoon films reflected the beauty of the elements of life from nature and animals, in a different way full of joy and colors, and many of us got to know these animals through the “cartoon” that we attached to its characters.

A new study indicated that one of the most famous heroes of the “cartoon”, the southern yellow-billed hornbill, is in danger of disappearing from our world due to the global climate crisis, and its red-billed counterpart was known as Zazu from the movie The Lion King.

Researchers from the University of Cape Town studied the effects of rising temperatures and drought on the reproductive success of birds in the Kalahari Desert from 2008-2019, and their findings revealed that breeding production “collapsed” during this time, with an increase in responsible temperature.

Previous studies had shown how animals living in the Kalahari desert suffer from the consequences of warming, and a previous study revealed how multiple bird species reproduce earlier and for a shorter period.

In the new study, the team set out to investigate the impact of climate change on yellow-billed hawksbill over a 10-year period.

Dr Nicholas Pattinson, the study’s first author, said: “There is rapidly growing evidence of the negative effects of rising temperatures on the behaviour, physiology, reproduction, and survival of different species of birds, mammals and reptiles around the world.”

“For example, heat-related mass death events are increasingly being recorded over a period of a few days, which undoubtedly poses a threat to population survival and ecosystem function,” Pattinson added.

The researchers studied the breeding success of pairs of southern yellow-billed cows in wooden nest boxes in the Kuroman River Reserve, and compared their results with climate trends in the region. Their results showed that with an increase in maximum air temperature, breeding production collapsed.

“During the observation period, the near-lethal effects of elevated temperatures, including foraging, foraging and conservation of body mass, reduced the chance of cow horns successfully breeding or even breeding at all,” explained Dr. Pattinson.

The researchers found that the average percentage of occupied nest boxes decreased from 52 percent to just 12 percent, when comparing the first three seasons (2008-2011) to the last three seasons (2016-2019).

The success of the nest (“at least one chick successfully reared and hatched”) decreased from 58 percent to 17 percent, while the average number of chicks decreased from 1.1 to 0.4, and when the average air temperature exceeded 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit (35.7 degrees Celsius), they were not There are absolutely successful breeding attempts.

Dr. Pattinson said that much of the public perception of the effects of the climate crisis is related to the calculated scenarios for 2050 and beyond. He added that the effects of the climate crisis are current and could appear not only in our lifetime, but even over a single decade.