Spectacled warblers and global warming

This is a spectacled warbler video from Spain.

Is the Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata expanding northward because of climate warming?

Giacomo Assandria & Michelangelo Morganti

Published online: 16 Dec 2014

Abstract

The Spectacled Warbler shows a strictly Mediterranean distribution which is expected to expand northward in response to climate warming. To test this hypothesis, we defined the regular distribution of the species based on the literature and we tested whether: (1) spring temperatures in this area significantly increased between 1967 and 2010; (2) breeding attempts north of the regular range occurred progressively at northern latitudes.

Both of these hypotheses were confirmed, supporting the hypothesis that the species is expanding northward because of climate warming.