There was a bird I heard as a child, a very distinctive song, I can remember it so clearly, and yet no matter what time of year I go to the place where I grew up (my mother still lives there and I only live an hour away), I never hear that bird song. I don’t know if the species is just wiped out from the area, but this does not give me hope.

A lot of migration patterns are changing, too. Where I live, Carolina wrens are now more common than they were even a decade ago. As climate change takes place, colder climates warm and birds common in warmer areas move in.