April 26, 2024—Billions of birds die each year from collisions with buildings. In a country where 30% of the bird population has been lost in recent decades, it’s a serious problem. Migrating birds – confused by city lights at night – are especially vulnerable. But there are a few simple and effective things you can do to help.
Blog – 2018
Lights Out Alerts 2024
Friday, April 26th, 2024Daily Bird 2024: Pine Warbler
Saturday, April 20th, 2024April 20, 2024—The Pine Warbler is a harbinger of spring. In some years, many arrive during the last few days of March, and by mid April they are singing and establishing breeding territories.
Homegrown Habitat, April 2024: Sweetfern
Friday, April 19th, 2024April 19, 2024—Sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) isn’t actually a fern, but a low shrub in the Myricacea family with somewhat fern-like, aromatic foliage. It is native from Quebec south to Georgia and west to Ontario and Minnesota. This under-appreciated shrub, which grows two to four feet high and four to eight feet wide, has many appealing features including its value to wildlife.
Daily Bird 2024: Palm Warbler
Wednesday, April 17th, 2024April 17, 2024—If you wait until May to look for the delightful Palm Warbler in Connecticut, you might miss your chance. This early migrant is on the move now.
Simple changes to the state’s outdoor lighting regulations will make Connecticut safer for birds
Wednesday, April 17th, 2024April 17, 2024—With spring migration peaking soon, efforts to reduce the number of birds that die when they crash into windows and buildings are at the forefront. Connecticut Audubon and its members are part of the solution. This week we collaborated with the Lights Out Coalition of Connecticut to propose simple changes to the state’s outdoor lighting regulations. Those changes are designed to help birds make it safely into and through the state, without crashing into buildings.
Daily Bird Northern Flicker 2024
Monday, April 15th, 2024April 15, 2024—Northern Flickers aren’t your typical woodpeckers. These handsome birds are just as likely to be hopping on your lawn, searching for ants and grubs, as they are hammering a tree. Their flashy white rump and bright yellow wing feathers make them easy to spot in flight. This is the time of year when Northern Flickers are perhaps most noticeable, because of their loud call.
Celebrate the Magic of Bird Migration with Connecticut Audubon’s Migration Magic bird festival
Friday, April 12th, 2024April 12, 2024—Connecticut Audubon invites you to Migration Magic, a month-long celebration of the beauty and importance of birds as they arrive back in Connecticut. Share the joy of birds and raise funds for the ongoing work of bird conservation in Connecticut!
Daily Bird 2024: Green-winged Teal
Wednesday, April 10th, 2024April 10, 2024—At only 14 inches long, the Green-winged Teal is the smallest North American duck. It might also be the most beautiful (the competition for that honor is tough).
Daily Bird 2024: Northern Gannet
Monday, April 8th, 2024April 8, 2024—The reports of Northern Gannets flying over Long Island Sound last week were enough to make a desk-bound birder envious. Frank Mantlik, a member of the regional board of Connecticut Audubon’s Milford Point Coastal Center, and Stefan Martin, conservation manager, were among the many birders who knew enough to look for them from the state’s beaches following the mid-week storm. Here’s a report.
Flaco’s death underscores the importance of rodenticide controls in Connecticut; a new bill would regulate the rat poisons found in the eagle-owl’s body
Tuesday, March 26th, 2024March 26, 2024—Flaco, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo a year ago and died in February, had been poisoned with four different rodenticides. The news underscores the critical importance in Connecticut of passing a new state law to strictly regulate the kind of rat poisons that contributed to Flaco’s death—second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides.
Homegrown Habitat, March 2024: Spicebush
Wednesday, March 20th, 2024March 20, 2024—The tiny, lemon-yellow flowers of spicebush (Lindera benzoin) brighten the landscape just when we need them the most—when wintry weather lingers, and the warmth of spring seems a distant memory from last year.
Look what landed on the Milford Point Osprey Platform!
Thursday, March 14th, 2024Connecticut Audubon Board member George Amato was birding at the Milford Point Coastal Center on Wednesday afternoon, March 13, witnessed this, and let Stefan Martin, our conservation manager know. Stefan quickly pressed record on the Osprey Cam — here it is: 2 minutes of an immature Bald Eagle, in beautiful close-up.
“In Conversation with Christian Cooper: Observing the Observer”
Friday, March 15th, 2024Join the Connecticut Audubon Society and other organizations for a free special event featuring author, birder, and naturalist Christian Cooper. This engaging conversation, moderated by Connecticut Audubon Board member Robert Lamothe, will feature Christian Cooper discussing his lifelong passion for birding, the beauty of the natural world, and the experiences chronicled in his new memoir, Better Living Through Birding—Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World.
“Find (and Photograph) More Birds” — Heather Wolf and the Young, Gifted & Wild About Birds season finale
Tuesday, March 12th, 2024Join Heather Wolf as she talks about her latest book Find More Birds: 111 Surprising Ways to Spot Birds Wherever You Are. Heather will share tips on bird-finding close to home and beyond, as well as ways to witness more of the fascinating bird behaviors and drama we all want to see! Thursday, March 28, 2024, 7-8 p.m. via Zoom.
Testimony of The Connecticut Audubon Society regarding “An Act Concerning the Use of Neonicotinoids,” S.B. 190
Friday, March 8th, 2024Friday, March 8, 2024 — Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Joyce Leiz is testifying in Hartford today on a proposal to regulate a dangerous class of pesticides called neonicotinoids.
Volunteer for habitat improvement work at Milford Point
Thursday, August 18th, 2022The last several years have seen great improvements at the Milford Point Coastal Center. But there’s more to be done — and you can help. We are recruiting volunteers to help remove invasive plants and replace them with native plants, which have much higher conservation value. It is the kind of hands-on work that makes […]
“Trouble on the Beach: Intruders at Nature Preserves are Driving Away Vulnerable Birds” — Young, Gifted & Wild About Birds
Friday, March 1st, 2024March 1, 2024 — The 2023 season was a good one for Connecticut’s most vulnerable beach-nesting birds, American Oystercatchers and Least Terns. Or it least it looked to be so at the start. Coastal rangers were diligent in their patrols, and a streak of good luck kept coastal storms away. Yet one persistent problem counter-acted the success. Throughout the season human visitors and their pets intruded on the roped-off beach areas where these species nest.
Observing an owl? Here’s what to do to keep you and the owl safe.
Thursday, February 22nd, 2024Follow these three basic rules no matter which owl — Barred, Snowy, Northern Saw-whet, etc. (borrowed from Project SNOWStorm)
Keep your distance
Respect private property
Don’t feed an owl, ever.
Bird Finder Revisited: Greater White-fronted Goose
Thursday, February 22nd, 2024February 22, 2024 — Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) is a rare but regular visitor to Connecticut in winter. Over the last month or so, birders have been observing one at Crosby Pond in Orange and 9th District Road in Somers.
“Pesticides in Connecticut—Protecting our Birds and Bees,” a free program February 27 in New Milford
Tuesday, February 20th, 2024February 20, 2024 — The risks that pesticides and rodenticides pose to birds, pollinators and people will be the topic of a program at the New Milford Public Library on Tuesday, February 27, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Joyce Leiz, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society, will be among the program’s speakers.
