A peculiar unidentified bird was taking flight in San Antonio in 2023. This unknown animal was later discovered as a new hybrid song bird, the Grue Jay. This new bird is a mix of both blue jay and green jays, most likely caused by climate change.
You wake up with excitement rolling around in your stomach and the smell of sweet cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. You open your crinkled eyes because you can’t help the smile already taking hold of your face. Looking at the time, you see it’s still 6:30 in the morning. Still, you run down the stairs because it’s never too early to open presents. As you run down the stairs, you stop to look out the window and quickly glance at this year’s white Christmas. Instead, your smile begins to fall. The only white outside is the neighbor’s picket fence, which serves as yet another reminder of the increasingly apparent consequences of climate change.
Climate change is the shifting temperature on earth that is also changing the patterns in the weather. The changing weather has been affecting many living things that depend on a stabilized environment. This causes not only new types of species to be created but also the extinction of some living things.
“Climate change is an evolutionary pressure,” biology teacher Jennifer Hoemann said. “I think most aspects of our lives will eventually see climate change touching on them.”
The chances for survival of many different types of organisms is impacted by climate change. The living things that depend on a specific temperature in their environment could have to travel to different areas to seek this temperature.
Grue Jays are predicted to be made for these reasons. Green Jays and Blue Jays were both migrating north due to climate change, which is what most think caused the new hybrid’s creation. The cause of the breeding of these two species is unknown, although there are many hypotheses. One such hypothesis is the common idea that climate change had a role in breeding.
“I think climate change is affecting everybody and a lot of things,” pet parrot owner and senior Sarah Syed said. “It’s a huge issue that we need to fix, but we don’t.”
As temperatures continue to warm because of climate change, it will keep affecting how birds migrate from locations in the winter. The migrating process includes navigating where to go from environmental cues. Their timing is affected by the weather, such as if it’s getting cold enough to begin the process or not. Since blue and green jays both migrated more north than normal in 2023, it caused the birds to end up running into each other.
“The weather most likely caused the new hybrid creation,” bird watcher and Kaneland teacher Renee Grisch said. “Air patterns changed because of migration, and it had to adapt.”
The movement of air is also shifting because of climate change and the need to adapt to the constantly changing weather. This causes the migration of animals to change, especially birds. Climate change is affecting animals in many different ways. It is known to cause some animals’ bodies to shift along with the heat. This includes larger beaks, legs and ears. Along with people, animals have to adapt to the changing world because of climate change.
Even though there are more types of animals because of climate change, we are also losing many species. Penguins, turtles, polar bears, elephants, gorillas, butterflies and many other animals are all suffering from global warming.
“It’s really rare for those birds to mate, especially since some birds mate for life, and they have different mating calls,” Grisch said.
Birds have their own unique calling that is most commonly used for communication purposes. Some specific calling sounds, though, are used for reasons like warning another bird or mating.
These birds, being their own species with different sounding calls, make mating more rare. Since they make different sounds, it makes it harder for them to understand each other’s communication. The new Grue Jays make a very loud squawking sound. It can be described as very funky and loud.
Green Jays and Blue Jays have been evolving differently for a long time, which caused them to become separate organisms and species. This makes the new hybrid more significant because of how they have not been the same species for such an extended period of time. Currently, Grue Jays are considered to be anomalous, because they are so different from other species of birds.
The chance of different animals surviving is highly impacted by any factor in the environment. Not only can new species or types of animals be created, but they can also go extinct.
