We’re excited to share the publication of a new paper in Ecography, led by PhD candidate Sara Ryding (Deakin University, collaboration with Matt Symonds Lab), which explores how climate change may be reshaping the morphology of migratory shorebirds. Using an incredibly extensive dataset of nearly 19,000 juvenile birds across 11 species sampled over 43 years, Sara investigated whether warming temperatures are causing changes in relative wing length, a trait thought to play a role in thermoregulation. Interestingly, while juvenile shorebirds migrating to tropical northern Australia exhibited a consistent increase in relative wing length over time, no such trend was observed in their temperate southern counterparts.

Crucially, the study found no evidence that these morphological changes are driven by developmental temperatures at the breeding grounds, suggesting that these changes are unlikely to be short-term plastic responses. Instead, they may reflect long-term, potentially evolutionary responses to the environmental conditions experienced at non-breeding sites. This work highlights how subtle, climate-linked changes in body shape (e.g. “shape-shifting”) may be occurring unevenly across populations, depending on local climatic pressures.

Congratulations to Sara on this significant contribution to our understanding of how wildlife is adapting to our changing planet.

Citation

Ryding, S, McQueen, A, Symonds, MRE, Tattersall, GJ, Victorian Wader Study Group, Australasian Wader Studies Group, Rogers, DI, Atkinson, R, Jessop, R, Hassell, CJ, Christie, M, Ross, TA, and Klassen, M. 2025. Shape-shifting in relative wing length of juvenile shorebirds: no evidence of developmental temperatures driving morphological changes. Ecography, 2025: e07801. doi: 10.1002/ecog.07801