Monday Bird Report

The Atlas will help show whether maps like this, which predict the occurrence of Red-bellied Woodpeckers based on modeling, need to be updated. Here, the warmer colors indicate where the woodpeckers are more likely to occur. Maps by Valerie Steen et al., University of Connecticut.

June 15, 2020 — Mid-June is prime nesting season and if you’re into birds, the Connecticut Bird Atlas could use your help.

The project began in 2018. We preceded it by devoting our 2017 Connecticut State of the Birds report to the Atlas. The report’s one recommendation: “If Connecticut’s birds are important to you, learn as much as you can about the project and then volunteer to participate!”

Connecticut Audubon is a prime sponsor of the Atlas Project, which means your donations and membership are helping to support its day-to-day operations. But now, in its third year, the project needs to know about your bird sightings too.

UConn Professor Chris Elphick, one of the project leaders, emailed me over the weekend:

“We don’t need people to make a big commitment – simply reporting strong evidence of nesting in your yards (nests, young birds being fed by adults), even by common species (robins, phoebes, etc.)  would be helpful. Similarly birds nesting in nest boxes. 

“The critical things that people should know are that we need them to report the species, the date of the observation, and the location (latitude-longitude or street address). If they don’t want the information to be publically available, they should tell us that too – otherwise it will be visible in eBird. They can submit with eBird or — probably easier for many — via the forms on our website (incidental observation form is best for one-off reports).”

To help, visit the ctbirdatlas website and click on Data Forms. Then click on the Incidental Breeding Observation Form link. Also check the Blog link for several up-to-date posts.

Judging from the Atlas Map, there are still a few dozen unclaimed blocks among the 596 in the state. You can sign up for one of those as well, if your time and skill level allow it.

For background, here’s an excerpt from Chris’s 2017 State of the Birds article, “Using Science to Conserve Birds.” And the 2017 report itself is here.

Osprey Update: It looks to me like there are now two chicks and one unhatched egg in the Milford Point Osprey nest. Watch the Osprey Cam and if you see something different, let me know. — Tom Andersen