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Having a distinctive accent and the status as the only bird found exclusively in Britain are likely to be short-lived honours for the Scottish crossbill.

Two years ago the bird won recognition as a distinct species after analysis of its beak and its “Scottish accent”, but the effects of climate change mean that it is likely to be extinct by 2100, according to research. Seven other birds have joined it on a list of species that will struggle to survive in Britain if temperatures rise by 3C (5.4F).

Up to 19 types of bird are forecast to make an appearance in Britain as breeding species, including the night heron, the scops owl and the hoopoe. However, for the majority of species, warmer temperatures will cause often devastating reductions in range, habitat and numbers, according to an atlas of climate change published today.

Researchers assessing the likely impacts of global warming on birds calculated what would happen to dozens of species around Europe on the basis of a 2.9C temperature rise, though the reality could be twice as high. They found that each species would, on average, have to move an average of 340 miles (547km) to find suitable habitat.

For the Scottish crossbill that would spell doom. In Scandinavia it would lose out to other crossbill species, even if it could cope with the terrain, and Iceland lacks the Scots pines upon which it depends. Arctic-loving snow buntings would eschew the higher temperatures, as would Leach’s petrel, the pintail, the common scoter and Arctic and great skuas.

The distribution area for the average European bird would shrink by a fifth, according to A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds. The impact on many species would be far worse, with eight British birds, including redthroated divers, redwings and ptarmigans restricted to 5 per cent of their current habitat. Some birds would gain from warmer temperatures, with honey buzzards and marsh harriers among those likely to thrive.

Ornithologists said that the atlas illustrated the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Mark Avery, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “Anything above an average of 2C risks catastrophic impacts. We must help wildlife to become resilient to the worst impacts.”

His colleague, Grahame Madge, said that one of the saddest findings was that common birds such as the treecreeper would be seen far less frequently. “By the end of this century the climate in the southern half of Britain won’t be suitable for a bird that’s been here since the Ice Age. This is devastating,” he said.

Brian Huntley, of Durham University, the joint author of the atlas, said that only international action could allievate the pressure on birds. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded last year that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of all animal and plant species around the world could be expected to become extinct if average temperatures rise by 2.5C.

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