Natural Selections

Pamela Fraser nominated as next chair of Connecticut Audubon’s Board of Directors

October 11, 2022 — The Connecticut Audubon Board of Directors has nominated Pamela Fraser, Ph.D., of Easton to become chair. Pam will take over for Kathleen Van Der Aue, who has guided the organization for four years, helped ably by Pam as vice chair.

Shorebird identification made as easy as possible

September 22, 2022 — There are at least a dozen species of shorebirds still to be found on Connecticut’s beaches in late September. They can be tough to identify. But we’re here to help.

Hot days at the cool coast for New Haven campers

August 8, 2022 — Seventy-five kids from New Haven day camps got a bracing taste of Long Island Sound’s wildness this summer at the Coastal Center at Milford Point. The kids, who were enrolled in New Haven Eco-Adventure camps, each spent a couple of hot mornings feeling the cool breezes. They waded in the lapping waves and explored the marsh, learning about the plants and animals that live on the Sound’s shore. The visits were a collaboration between the Connecticut Audubon Society and New Haven Youth and Recreation camps. The Greater New Haven Green Fund sponsored the visits.

Act now to help preserve Plum Island

July 28, 2022 — Connecticut Audubon’s network of advocates has a chance to help preserve Plum Island for the benefit of the public and the region’s wildlife. Please write today to President Joe Biden and urge him to declare Plum Island a national monument for conservation and historic preservation. 

Peril overcome, an American Oystercatcher returns home to Milford Point

In the sanctuaries …

July 12, 2022 — Life for the birds nesting on the Milford Point sandbar is always fraught, and the summer of 2020 was particularly perilous for the American Oystercatchers there. But two babies survived, and their tale is amazing.

What to do about climate change? “Birds Are Telling Us It’s Time To Act.”

July 1, 2022 — Targeted, aggressive land preservation and restoration can help Connecticut and other states meet their climate change goals. An added benefit: the work would protect and improve habitat for scores of native birds. A day after yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA, it’s worth looking back to Connecticut Audubon’s 2021 Connecticut State of the Birds report, titled “Three Billion Birds Are Gone. How Do We Bring Them Back?”

Daily Bird nesting season special: Red-eyed Vireo

June 27, 2022 — The Red-Eyed Vireo is widely distributed throughout Connecticut wherever forested habitats are present. This bird prefers to forage and nest in deciduous forests and is a very successful breeder throughout the state. You are loikely to hear its near-endless singing before you see the bird.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Louisiana Waterthrush and Northern Waterthrush

June 24, 2022 — These warblers are active, vociferous birds, habitual tail-waggers easily told from our array of other warbler species. Telling them apart is another matter. Habitat is a key to sorting out the waterthrushes, because their habitat preferences are quite different. Knowing their songs also helps.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Ovenbird

June 23, 2022 — Ovenbirds are hard to miss. “TEAcher, TEAcher, TEAcher” rings out through the woods. Olive-backed with dark streaks and spots on the breast, Ovenbirds resemble a combination of Veery and Wood Thrush, although their orange cap gives them away if their singing has not already.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Scarlet Tanager

June 22, 2022 — Scarlet Tanagers are a fairly common forest nesting bird in Connecticut. Most of the larger and many of the smaller forested areas of the state will have nesting pairs. They are mainly associated with oak forests but also look for them in other deciduous as well as mixed conifer forests.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Chimney Swift

June 20, 2022 — Chimney Swifts are aerial insectivores with a round, cigar-shaped body and long, curved wings. They are grayish-brown overall, with a black tint around the eyes and small black bill. The cigar-shaped silhouette of the Chimney Swift is the key identification characteristic. You can also listen for the peaceful chatter sound they make as they fly around in search for food.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Clapper Rail

June 17, 2022 — Despite its large size, Clapper Rail is not an easy bird to locate. These marsh birds are known for their elusive nature and are more often heard than seen. The grasses that make up salt marshes hide them well and provide crucial habitat for feeding and nesting.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Wood Thrush

Jue 16, 2022 — Now is the perfect time to hear the beautiful, flute-like call of the Wood Thrush throughout — as its name would indicate — the woods of rural Connecticut. Listen in the early morning and evening along quiet roads or paths. Follow the call and find the bird and you’ll see that it has a reddish-brown head, back, wings, and tail, and large white dark spots on a white breast and undersides.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Alder Flycatcher

June 14, 2022 — A small hunter of insects, the Alder Flycatcher is one of the interesting members of the Tyrant flycatcher family. The Empidonax genus within this family is made up of nondescript dull olive individuals who are most reliably differentiated from one another by their unique songs and calls. Alder Flycatcher is very difficult to separate from Willow Flycatcher, other than by voice.

Daily Bird nesting season special: babies are scampering around Milford Point. Here’s how to help keep them safe.

In the sanctuaries …
June 13, 2022 — So far, so good for the Piping Plovers nesting on the Milford Point sandbar. Twenty baby birds have hatched and adults are still incubating eggs on three other nests. It’s an incredibly perilous time out there for this federally-threatened species. The birds can’t fly yet and are at the mercy of storm tides and predators. Which is where you come in.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

June 9, 2022

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
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.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Bobolink

June 7, 2022 — With updated information on safe dates for mowing fields in which Bobolinks nest. Bobolinks are found in large grasslands (hay, pasture, airports), of at least 10 acres in size usually. Fields with hills tend to have more birds; they usually nest on the top of the hill or the side in the thick grasses. If you’re in the right area, it’s an easy bird to locate. The males will sit on the top of a clump of grass or nearby tree or shrub and sing, defending their territory from other males; the males also sing while flying low over the grassland.

Daily Bird nesting season special: Indigo Bunting

June 6, 2022 — Until the end of June, the Daily Bird will feature Connecticut’s nesting species, including information on where to find these beauties. The series starts with Indigo Bunting.

New pesticide restrictions signed into law

June 2, 2022 — A pesticide restriction bill that passed the General Assembly in Hartford with the strong support of Connecticut Audubon’s grassroots advocates was signed into law yesterday by Governor Ned Lamont. Public Act 22-142 makes it illegal to use chlorpyrifos on golf courses or for any cosmetic or non-agricultural use.

Advocates act to ensure passage of new pesticide bill

May 23, 2022 — Timely advocacy on the part of Connecticut Audubon members and others around the state led to passage of a bill in Hartford that will cut the use of an insecticide that’s dangerous to birds.

New horseshoe crab rules might help migrating shorebirds

May 20, 2022 — The state of Connecticut has set new rules in hopes of protecting horseshoe crabs. The shorebirds that eat the crabs’ eggs might benefit as well. The rules shorten the season for commercial fishing of horseshoe crabs and lower by 70% the number of crabs that can be caught.

Spring migratory birds: Hooded Warbler

Usually first noticed by a ringing “weeta, weeta, weeteeo” song, a Hooded Warbler sighting highlights almost any bird walk in the Connecticut woods. Hooded Warblers reach the northern edge of their breeding range here in Connecticut (although there is a breeding population in southern Ontario), generally arriving during the first week of May and setting up housekeeping almost immediately. Hooded Warbler would be a great bird to add to your list during the Migration Madness Birdathon, May 13-15.

Spring migratory birds: Black-throated Blue Warbler

The Black-throated Blue Warbler, stunningly unique in its adult male garb, is quite average in other ways. It’s never as rare or hard to find as a Mourning Warbler, and never as abundant at the height of migration as a Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, or a Palm Warbler.

Spring migratory birds: Blackburnian Warbler

One of the most strikingly colored of our wood-warblers, this species’ flaming orange throat was responsible for its colloquial name of “Fire Throat.” With yellow and black on its neck and face, black wings with a large fused white wing bar, and black streaks on a yellow to white belly, the male is unique among our North American warblers. Females are a muted version of the male, showing two narrower wing bars.

Spring migratory birds: Black-and-white Warbler

May 3, 2022 — Although every warbler species is unique, the Black-and-white Warbler stands out, and for a variety of reasons. Many warblers exhibit bright and flashy colors, but the aptly named Black-and-white Warbler is just that: black and white. Yet it is far from drab: the ornate and contrasting stripes conjures the exotic pattern of a zebra.

Spring migratory birds: Canada Warbler

When searching for Canada Warbler, it is important to become familiar with its unique song. One of my favorite ways of locating a Canada Warbler is by slowly driving along Greenwoods Road in Peoples State Forest, listening for its clear, loud chip note, followed by an abrupt, explosive series of short notes that regularly ends with a three-note phrase.

“Spring Migration: Global Ecology in Connecticut’s Treetops” — a Zoom presentation with Yale’s Scott Yanco

May 2, 2022 — When we watch songbirds migrate through Connecticut, we’re seeing more than just beautiful creatures flitting through the tree canopy — we’re witnessing a tiny part of an amazing global-scale ecological process.  In conjunction with the 2022 Migration Madness Birdathon, you’re invited to a special Zoom program on the topic.

Spring migratory birds: Magnolia Warbler

The Magnolia Warbler is certainly one of the most beautiful and sought after migrants by birders throughout the state. Although during a good migration year it can be found in many habitat types ,it prefers flowering hardwoods, particularly oaks where it can be seen foraging among the flowers for tiny insects and caterpillars.

Spring migratory birds: Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler
Setophaga virens

They haven’t arrived quite yet but you’ll be hearing them soon.

Spring migratory birds: Yellow Warbler

 “Sweet, sweet, sweet, ain’t I sweet!” sings the Yellow Warbler, and indeed it is sweet to hear this most vocal of warblers warming up the early spring season with song.

Spring Migratory Birds: Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler
Setophaga palmarum

Palm Warblers arrive earlier in April on their way to Canada. But some are still around so it’s not too late to look for them — and for their wagging tails.

Spring Migratory Birds: Northern Parula

April 26, 2022 — The Daily Bird is alive and well, brought back to celebrate spring migration and to prepare us all for the 2022 Migration Madness Birdathon. We start with Northern Parula, written by Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Patrick Comins. Videos by Gilles Carter, a member of Connecticut Audubon’s Board of Directors.

As Ospreys continue to thrive, Osprey Nation needs more volunteers to monitor nests. Help if you can!

April 9, 2022 — Osprey nesting season is underway! 2022 marks the 9th year of the Osprey Nation monitoring project. The number of nests in Connecticut has grown to more than 900. Ospreys are an incredible conservation success story but their growth means we need volunteers to help monitor nests. About 300 remain unspoken for. Can you help by being a volunteer Osprey Nation steward?

Important progress in the U.S. Senate for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act

April 8, 2022 — One of the most important environmental bills in a generation has cleared a hurdle in the U.S. Senate.  The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act on Thursday, April 7, and is sending the bill to the full Senate for consideration. The bill would bring almost $12 million a year to Connecticut for the protection of birds and other wildlife.

Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center presents Season of the Osprey filmmaker in live Zoom

March 15, 2022 — Connecticut Audubon’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center is presenting  a free, interactive Zoom presentation on Thursday, April 7, at 6 p.m.: An evening with filmmaker Jacob Steinberg, producer and director of the PBS Nature program Season of the Osprey.

Birds of the Year 2021: Join us on Zoom for all the fun!

December 9, 2021 — It’s December, and at Connecticut Audubon that means it’s time for our annual Birds of the Year list. This year we’ll be taking to Zoom to present our picks for Birds of the Year. But there’s a new wrinkle. This year we want to include your picks as well!

Please join us for the release of Connecticut State of the Birds 2021. December 2, via Zoom.

November 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.

National Estuarine Research Reserve proposal progresses

October 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.