New Delhi, April 23 -- Climate change and habitat changes are making the Lesser Goldfinch, a songbird traditionally found in the southwestern United States to shift to the country's cooler Pacific Northwest, researchers have found.

The bird has declined in the southern parts of its range (the US Southwest) and is moving northwards making use of rivers.

Lesser Goldfinch populations increased dramatically in Washington (110.5 per cent), Idaho (66.3 per cent), and Oregon (16.9 per cent) between 2012 and 2022, the study found.

Researchers from Washington State University and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology analysed data from birdwatchers participating in two initiatives from the Cornell Lab - Project FeederWatch and eBird - to track the spe...