The Audubon North Carolina Pine Island Sanctuary on the Outer Banks is home to 183 bird species, and its marshes protect the state’s coast from floodwaters.

But it's being eroded by rising seas and a changing climate.

The Audubon Society is on a years-long surveying project to map the habitat of rare, secretive marsh birds. What they hear from the birds will serve as an indicator of how rising seas could negatively impact the marshes.

WUNC’s Jason deBruyn reports.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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