Have you ever wondered if climate change is affecting the birds that visit our backyards?  A recently completed study of house finch nests has shed some light on how the warming of the globe is affecting this common backyard resident.

       Biologists found house finches appear to be nesting earlier in California in response to climate change. 

       This conclusion is based on an analysis of museum records of house finch nests collected over more than 100 years (1895 to 2007).  When these data were compared to the spring temperatures recorded in the areas where the nests were collected, it was found the finches were nesting four and a half days earlier for every degree Celsius the spring temperature has increased in the locales were the house finch nests were collected.    If you would like to know if house finches in the Peach State are altering their nesting dates in a similar manner, you should consider becoming a citizen scientist and conduct your own study based on house finch nesting records collected in your backyard, neighborhood, or county.