Feb 29, 2008
Bird Notes 2/21/08
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Connecticut Audubon Society’s third annual Connecticut State of the Birds report, issued last week, describes possible conservation plans for six bird species that are in serious trouble. The report also shows how complex the problems and solutions are related to habitat protection and bird conservation.
The birds are the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (a state-listed “species of Special Concern”), Blue-winged Warbler (an “Endangered” species), Golden-winged Warbler, American Oystercatcher (“Special Concern”), Cerulean Warbler and Bobolink (“Special Concern”).
“A common misconception among the general public as well as many environmentalists is that restoring species diversity and conserving wildlife habitat is as simple as buying a piece of land, assuming suitable land is available, and reserving it as a conservation easement or using some other mechanism to permanently prevent development,” said Milan Bull, editor-in-chief of the report. “However, it is rarely this simple. Most of Connecticut’s threatened bird species require specialized habitats, such as grasslands and shrublands. If these areas are not regularly maintained by mowing, cutting and other practices, they quickly revert to forested land.”
Mr. Bull said, “Even old-growth forests, which provide habitat for different bird species, require ongoing efforts by skilled forest managers to keep them healthy and productive as wildlife habitat. Effective land management practices require substantial investments of both time and money. These commitments need to be carefully considered as part of any habitat protection plan.”
Connecticut’s grasslands, which support declining bird species like the Bobolink, have shrunk to less than 5% of what they were in 1909. (Many other grassland species that require larger tracts to nest are faring far worse, he said.)
Many smaller hayfields could probably support healthy Bobolink populations. However, farmers would need to delay mowing until Bobolinks have finished nesting. But hay has the highest value when it is cut earlier in the season. “A possible compromise: subsidize farmers to ‘grow’ grassland birds instead of hay and corn, especially in marginal agricultural areas on their farms,” he said. “This will require payments to farmers to delay haying and possibly converting cornfields on marginal lands to hayfields to create Bobolink habitat. These solutions can be costly to implement and monitor.”
Among the fastest declining songbirds is the Cerulean Warbler. The mature forests they need to breed are disappearing, and their wintering grounds on the slopes and mountains of northern South America are also in danger.
Once common on the eastern shoreline in summer, the American Oystercatcher is very sensitive to human disturbance, and a shrinking population is competing with humans for the use of beaches during breeding season.
“There are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ programs or simplistic solutions,” said society President Robert Martinez. “The next, difficult steps are to design, fund and implement action plans that address the problems we’ve identified, including changing human behavior, which is probably the most difficult challenge of all. But conservation is a ‘global’ issue that concerns all of us....We can and must do something to protect at-risk bird species and disappearing wildlife habitat and the countless plants, insects and other animals that share these same habitats.”
Connecticut Audubon made five recommendations:
* Preserve grasslands by protecting existing grasslands from development, providing farmers with incentives to mow after the nesting season and to convert marginal cropland to grassland. This will help the Meadowlark, Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow.
* Manage land to create more shrublands by actively increasing shrublands, providing incentives to private landowners to create shrublands, and encouraging utilities to maintain power line cuts as shrublands. This helps the Blue-winged Warbler, Brown Thrasher, and Towhee.
* Protecting remaining beach and salt marsh habitats by preventing degradation of the limited existing habitat, providing money for policing during the nesting season, and using “dredge spoil” to create safe artificial nesting islands. This would help the Oystercatcher, Least Tern, and Sharp-tailed Sparrow.
* Slow forest fragmentation and stop deer overbrowsing by using land acquisition to preserve large blocks of unbroken forest, and reduce deer populations in impacted forests. This affects the Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird, and Wood Thrush among others.
* Limit unnecessary human threats by eliminating feral cat colonies on public lands, promoting light awareness programs for major buildings, establishing guidelines for lighting on communications towers, and supporting controls on all invasive species. Many migrating birds are killed, crashing into buildings and towers at night.
The complete report is at ctaudubon.org.
Coming Up
Livingston Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy, in Litchfield, slide talk by Ian Gereg, Thursday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., free, Western Connecticut Bird Club, at Southbury Library, 100 Poverty Road, 203-426-3901
World of the Red-tailed Hawk, natural history of this raptor, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich, 203-869-5272 x221 to register.
Eagle Viewing Boats Tours, through March 16, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 10 a.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 9 and 11, Connecticut Audubon Society, 860-767-0660, pwood@ctaudubon.org
Birding the Bay State, day trip to Cape Cod and to Massachusetts Audubon, Wednesday, March 5, $65/$75, Connecticut Audubon,
pwood@ctaudubon.org
, 860-767-0660.
Hammonasett Hike, looking for spring birds, Saturday, March 8, 8 to 11, free, Connecticut Audubon,
pwood@ctaudubon.org
, 860-767-0660.
Bird walks with Luke Tiller, Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. $5 each; to register, www.sunrisebirding.com/walks.htm; 203-981-9924, luke.tiller@gmail.com.
First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, March 2, April 6, May 4, 9 a.m., meet at the second concession stand, 203-637-9822.
Bird walks, first Saturday at 7:30 a.m., free, meet at Wild Bird Center of Norwalk, 335 Westport Avenue (Route 1), www.wildbird.com/Norwalk, 203-846-BIRD.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders@yahoo.com
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or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183,
extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling
your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help
identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an
injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding,
203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings
of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www.sandersbooks.com
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© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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