December 1, 2021 — The starting point for the report is a study published in Science in September 2019. Written by 11 top ornithologists from the U.S. and Canada, it shows that over the last 50 years, North America has lost about 30% of its birds. In other words, there are three billion fewer birds in North America today than there were in 1970.
Author Archive
A bird-lover’s guide to the 2021 CT State of the Birds report
Wednesday, December 1st, 2021Your Guide to the 2021 Connecticut State of the Birds report
Monday, November 29th, 2021“Three Billion Birds Are Gone. How Do We Bring Them Back?” Join us at noon on Thursday, December 2, for the official release of this year’s report. With key Connecticut Audubon staff and the authors of the report’s articles. Starting Point The starting point for the report is a study published in Science in September […]
Osprey Nation 2021 Report: Reasons to celebrate, including lots of Ospreys
Monday, November 22nd, 2021November 22, 2021 — We’re releasing the Osprey Nation report for the 2021 season today. It shows that this year, 342 volunteer stewards submitted data on 814 nests. Of those nests, 558 were active. The 558 pairs of Ospreys that occupied those nests produced 858 fledglings. Both numbers are by far the highest since the project began.
Please join us for the release of Connecticut State of the Birds 2021. December 2, via Zoom.
Tuesday, November 16th, 2021November 16, 2021 — At noon on Thursday, December 2, we’ll bring together on Zoom a group of the nation’s top bird conservationists to talk about the Connecticut State of the Birds 2021 report. It’s free, and you’re invited.
A network to help protect birds expands at Connecticut Audubon
Monday, November 15th, 2021November 15, 2021 — Since 2018, Connecticut Audubon has been part of a growing communications network that lets conservation scientists (and everybody else) see which routes birds take when they are migrating and where their journeys lead. The network is called the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. It relies on tiny transmitters attached to individual birds, and a series of antennas erected throughout the U.S. and Canada. A few months ago, our third antenna array was erected, at the Center at Pomfret.
National Estuarine Research Reserve proposal progresses
Thursday, October 21st, 2021October 21, 2021 — Progress toward establishment a new estuary reserve in southeastern Connecticut reached a milestone this week, when the official period for commenting on the project’s draft environmental impact statement ended. Connecticut Audubon is a strong supporter of the National Estuarine Research Reserve.
2021 Year in Review
Wednesday, October 20th, 2021Thanks to the support of members, donors, and volunteers, Connecticut’s environment saw important progress in many areas over the last year Ospreys, Piping Plovers, and Purple Martins all thrived. Important laws were passed. Key parcels of land were preserved. Thousands of young people received hours and hours of hands-on, outdoor conservation education. And thousands of […]
Dave Engelman Volunteer Benchmark Awards for 2021
Wednesday, October 20th, 2021October 21, 2021 — Four volunteers who have worked hard over the years to help improve Connecticut’s environment and help local people enjoy birds and the outdoors were the recipients of Connecticut Audubon’s annual Dave Enelman Volunteer Benchmark Awards.
Connecticut Audubon welcomes four new members to the Board of Directors
Tuesday, October 19th, 2021October 21, 2021 — Members of the Connecticut Audubon Society elected four new members of the Board of Directors at the organization’s annual meeting today. They also elected a slate of officers to lead the organization.
Public comment and hearing information for the proposed National Estuarine Research Reserve in Connecticut
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021September 28m 2021 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is accepting written public comments on the National Estuarine Research Reserve through 5 p.m., October 18, 2021. In addition NOAA will accept oral or written public comments during public hearings held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and 7:30 to 9 p.m. on October 7, 2021, […]
Public hearing and comment period set for the National Estuarine Research Reserve
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021September 28, 2021 — The federal government has scheduled a public meeting and is taking formal comments on the new environmental impact statement for the proposed National Estuarine Research Reserve in southeastern Connecticut. The reserve would would encompass the Lord Cove and Great Island Wildlife Management Areas in Old Lyme, and Bluff Point and Haley Farm—some of the best wildlife habitat on the Connecticut River estuary and in southeastern Connecticut.
Annual Meeting 2021
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021September 22, 2021 — On Thursday, October 21, at 6 p.m, Connecticut Audubon members will gather on Zoom for the organization’s 2021 Annual Meeting. It promises to be a fascinating meeting, highlighted by a keynote presentation by CJ Goulding, titled “Jordans in the Great Outdoors: How You Can Gear Up to Create Change.”
Bird feeders can go back up among signs that the condition affecting birds is easing
Friday, August 20th, 2021Friday, August 20, 2021 — For those of you who have taken down your bird feeders this summer — a sincere thank you for caring about Connecticut’s birds. The good news: It’s OK to start feeding birds again. But if you decide to do so, there are still a few precautions you should heed.
Working to protect the shorebirds on the Milford Point sandbar — with your help.
Monday, August 16th, 2021In the Sanctuaries …
August 16, 2021 — For the good of the migrating shorebirds feeding and resting now at Milford Point, Connecticut Audubon has decided to schedule no group walks to the Milford Point sandbar for the rest of August. We are also asking for your help in giving the shorebirds plenty of room to feed and rest when you visit on your own.
Video: Experts discuss “Dying Birds: What we know and what we don’t know”
Saturday, August 14th, 2021August 14, 2021 — Watch the video of our Zoom discussion, “Dying Birds: What we know and what we don’t know,” recorded August 9, 2021. The discussion was designed to give you the latest information on the unidentified condition that has been killing birds in Connecticut and in many states to the south and west.
A special online presentation: “Dying Birds: What we know and what we don’t know”
Monday, August 9th, 2021August 9, 2021 — Join us Wednesday, August 11, for a special free lunchtime Zoom discussion called “Dying Birds: What we know and what we don’t know,” featuring top experts from the state of Connecticut, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and the Connecticut Audubon Society. The discussion is designed to give you the latest information on the unidentified condition that has been killing birds in Connecticut and in many states to the south and west of here. Register below!
Beautiful animals that aren’t birds: Cecropia moth caterpillar
Monday, August 9th, 2021In the Sanctuaries …
Sherman, August 9, 2021 — On a routine walk at Deer Pond Farm to check on a habitat improvement project, Jim Arrigoni found a creature he had never before seen in his many years as a conservation biologist: the caterpillar of a cecropia moth.
Things you can do to help birds right now: make your windows bird-safe
Friday, August 6th, 2021August 6, 2021 — A bird doesn’t see a window as a barrier. If the window reflects the sky and trees, a bird thinks it’s flying into the sky and trees. The result is often a dead bird — lots of them. The best estimates show that up to a billion birds a year are killed when they fly into windows, walls, and other structures.
Things you can do to help birds right now: Keep your cat indoors
Thursday, August 5th, 2021August 5, 2021 — Don’t let the cat out of the house. Outdoor cats kill an estimated 1.3 – 4 billion birds in North America every year (they also kill 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually).
Things you can do to help birds right now: Nix the pesticides
Wednesday, August 4th, 2021August 4, 2021 — Pesticides are poison, plain and simple. If you apply pesticides to your property to kill insects, you’re killing the food that Connecticut’s birds rely on. And while you might think you’re targeting mosquitoes or ticks, you’re also killing butterflies and bees of all sorts.
