Blog – Connecticut Audubon Society

Barred Owl: Barred Owls are widely distributed throughout the state wherever large, unfragmented tracts of forested land are present. Barred Owls are only slightly smaller that Connecticut’s largest native owl the Great Horned. Because the Great Horned Owl predates young Barred Owls, the two owls are rarely found near each other.

Roseate Tern: An endangered species nationwide and in Connecticut, Roseate Terns can now be found with other terns as they begin to stage along our coast through August and September — and then be off, leaving the roosting sandbars suddenly empty.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
The long-popular reference to a “miniature Mockingbird” holds up pretty well. Shape and tone are reminiscent of the big mimid, although the gnatcatcher lacks the white wing markings. But keep miniature in mind. This is a small, slender bird in the warbler size category.

Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker found in Connecticut. Crow-sized, it is an inhabitant of the mixed deciduous and coniferous forests of North America.

Orchard Oriole

This is a handsome and distinctive species. The males lack the bright orange flash of the more common and widespread Baltimore Oriole but sport a bright chestnut and black plumage unique among North American birds.

Cerulean Warbler
In May we birders celebrate the return of the warblers, “the butterflies of the bird world.” Connecticut is in the nesting range of the rare and beautiful Cerulean Warbler and May is the best time to see it as it often stays high in the canopy, difficult to see once the trees leaf out.