Connecticut State of the Birds 2025—“Conservation Works: Building a Better Future for Birds” Highlights Progress and Promise Amid Ongoing Challenges
“Conservation Works: Building a Better Future for Birds” focuses on projects designed to help bring birds back from their decades long population decline. Photo by Paul Fusco.
Click here for a PDF of the 2025 CT State of the Birds report
November 7, 2025—Conservationists across Connecticut and beyond are trying to show that doing things differently may be the key to bringing birds back.
Connecticut Audubon’s 2025 Connecticut State of the Birds report — “Conservation Works: Building a Better Future for Birds” — looks at examples of innovation and collaboration that are aimed at restoring bird populations.
The report uses as a starting point “Decline of North American Avifauna,” a 2019 study published in Science that documented a 30 percent drop in bird populations across the continent since 1970 — a loss of 3 billion birds.
“Conservation Works: Building a Better Future for Birds,” released today, focuses on conservation projects that are showing results and promise.
Kathryn Temple
The 2025 edition is also Connecticut Audubon’s 20th annual Connecticut State of the Birds report. Each year, the report explores conservation issues that affect Connecticut’s birds in the context of nationwide concerns.
Connecticut Audubon members receive a copy of the report in the mail. You an also click HERE for a PDF of the report.
This year’s authors represent a younger generation of conservationists who will form the foundation of bird recovery in the decades to come.
The report opens with “Recovery’s Building Blocks: New Ideas, Collaboration, Basic Fieldwork, Talking,” by Kathryn Temple of Road to Recovery.
The article explores how creative partnerships and renewed fieldwork are helping rebuild the foundation for bird recovery in Connecticut and across the region.
Jacob Steinberg. Photo by Tomas Koeck
In “Collaborative Conservation: Engaging Communities through Birds,” Katherine Blake of Highstead, Sara Barker of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Connie Manes of the Kent Land Trust describe how the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative is uniting science and local stewardship to protect forests and the species that depend on them. They focus particularly on a promising project in a 22,580-acre area of Kent and Sharon.
“Osprey at the Crossroads: Crisis in the Chesapeake, Opportunity in New England,” by Jacob Steinberg, director of the acclaimed film Season of the Osprey, follows the remarkable rebound of a species once on the brink. He contrasts the continuing success of Connecticut’s Ospreys with the collapse of Osprey populations in the Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere.
In “Glass, Cats, and Concrete: How Canada Is Helping Bring Birds Back in Urban Environments,” Autumn Jordan, Bird Friendly City organizer at Nature Canada, shows how Canadian cities are leading the way in making urban landscapes safer for birds — lessons Connecticut towns can apply close to home.
Connie Manes of the Kent Land Trust.
“If Government Abandons Conservation, Birds and a Generation of Scientists Will Both Suffer,” written by the Connecticut Audubon Society, calls attention to the need for sustained public investment in conservation science and the next generation of researchers.
The report concludes with two action items that the Connecticut Audubon Society will carry out: a pilot project in 2026 to identify the fish species the state’s Ospreys depend on; and the continued priority of protecting federally threatened Piping Plovers at the Milford Point Coastal Center, where up to one third of the state’s Piping Plovers nest.
The report also recommends stronger shorebird protection across the state, the restoration of federal funding for conservation research, and the adoption of bird-friendly building practices in cities throughout the state.
Autumn Jordan of Nature Canada
Connecticut State of the Birds is edited by Tom Andersen, Connecticut Audubon’s communications director, and overseen by Executive Director Joyce Leiz and Senior Director of Science and Conservation Milan Bull.
The 2025 Connecticut State of the Birds is sponsored by WSHU Public radio.
