Blog – Connecticut Audubon Society

American Kestrel
Falco sparverius

Where to find it: American Kestrels are now migrating south through Connecticut and can be seen in many of the raptor migration hotspots.

Lincoln’s Sparrow
Melospiza lincolnii

Where to find it: Lincoln’s Sparrow is a common migrant in the fall throughout Connecticut and can be found particularly at our Bafflin Sanctuary in Pomfret.

It usually arrives in Connecticut around the third week of September and can be found through mid-October. Check weedy fields, old weedy gardens, hedgerows, and shrubby thickets throughout the state.

Common Nighthawk
Chordeiles minor

What it looks like: The Common Nighthawk is about 10 inches in size and can be observed most often while it is flying and only rarely while it is perched. Common Nighthawks have cryptic coloring, grayish with black and white mixed around the body. In flight they have long pointed wings with a white bar across the tips. The males have a white band near the tail tip. Their flight tends to be slow with deliberate wing beats.

American Avocet
Recurvirostra americana

Where to find it: Over the past few weeks, an American Avocet has been seen sporadically in our Milford Point Coastal Center’s Wheeler Salt Marsh, and from the Birdseye Boat Ramp overlooking the Housatonic River in Stratford.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea

Where to find it: Yellow-crowned Night Herons are birds of marshes and wet meadows but are not widely distributed across the state. These waders live in or near our coastal wetlands and forage in tidal marshes, tide pools and along the shore of Long Island Sound where they feed on crustaceans, largely fiddler crabs.