BirdWatching: Serious birders spend 40 minutes every day bird-watching

Some of Connecticut's most common birds - species like the blue jay that anybody can recognize - are locked in a long, slow but otherwise dramatic decline.

It is one of those disturbing trends just subtle enough year-to-year to escape attention because there still are decent numbers of these birds around. Even many veteran bird-watchers are unaware of the plight of species like the blue jay, Baltimore oriole and song sparrow.
Though it is among the most familiar birds in suburbia, the blue jay, for example, has been declining at a rate of about 2.9 percent a year since 1966, or about 70 percent over the past 40 years. The European starling, once so abundant that it was a major pest, is undergoing a virtual population crash, though, again, it is still not hard to find a starling.

Add to those species the northern flicker, house wren and the red-winged blackbird. "All of these species are on the steadily declining list," said Chris Elphick, an ornithologist and professor of conservation biology at the University of Connecticut.

In a year in which scientists and conservation interests have taken a close look at the status of 290 bird species typically found in Connecticut all or part of the year, the overall picture is mixed, though perhaps more gloomy than encouraging.

To be sure, some species are flourishing. "I hate to just paint everything black; it's not," said Milan G. Bull, senior director of science and conservation at the Connecticut Audubon Society, which this spring issued its "Connecticut State of the Birds," an assessment of the overall health of bird populations in the state.

Bald eagles have rebounded nicely the past two decades, as have ospreys. Wild turkeys, unseen as recently as the 1960s, are now abundant. Birds comfortable with human habitation, like robins and chickadees, do well. Many hawks are stable or increasing.

But for various reasons other species are suffering, and scientists and conservationists say that ought to be a concern to everyone, not just bird-watchers.

"The key to our quality of life is diversity. We need to be sure we are saving as many of them as possible because those are the indicators of our quality of life," Bull said. "Even if you don't care about birds, birds represent landscapes, and if birds are disappearing, it means the landscapes and habitats are disappearing. Birds are one of the easiest-to-observe markers of our habitat health."

Serious birders, who over the years have conducted many of the surveys that monitor avian populations, see the changes firsthand. Among them is Paul G. Cianfaglione of Canton, who spends at least 40 minutes every day bird-watching.

He rattles off the names of birds he knows are faring poorly. The eastern meadowlark "is definitely having a hard time." Populations of the eastern towhee and the wood thrush are off. The brown thrasher, which prefers shrub habitat, "is very hard to find now in Hartford County and throughout the state," he said.

For some species, the reasons for their decline are comparatively easy to identify. Species that must have tall grass, like the upland sandpiper, the bobolink and the meadowlark, suffer as agricultural land is developed or reverts to forest. Meadowlark populations, for example, are off about 85 percent since the mid-'60s.

Some species that require extensive tracts of forest habitat are suffering, presumably because Connecticut forests are ever more fragmented into smaller pieces that are inadequate for those birds. Suburban sprawl takes its inexorable toll on many habitats.

Elphick identifies another class of birds, the common species like the blue jay and song sparrows, that are declining for uncertain reasons. "Most birders would view the song sparrow as one of the commonest birds in the state, but it has been steadily declining," he said. Song sparrows are off 50 percent, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, maintained by the U. S. Geological Survey and based upon four decades of monitoring work by bird-watchers throughout the continent.

In the case of starlings - which are not native and sometimes gather in massive numbers, becoming a nuisance in urban areas - many people will be little bothered by their decline. Even the blue jay, which raids the nests of songbirds and steals eggs, is often viewed negatively.

"To some extent, those arguments are reasonable and accurate," Elphick said. "But I would counter, if all of these things are declining, it is important for us to know why."

In the case of the blue jay, reforestation may be a factor. But for species like the house sparrow or starling, which for decades flourished in urban settings, the reason is unclear.

"You have to wonder why these birds - birds perhaps best adapted to living in a human landscape - are declining," Elphick said.

West Nile Virus is blamed for much recent mortality among crows. But Elphick said the virus can't explain the decline of species like the blue jay or song sparrow, which have been declining steadily for decades, long before the virus was established.

For the general public, "these long-term declines in common birds are saying something they should be concerned about. They may say something about the environment," Elphick said.

Connecticut Audubon's report includes a series of recommendations intended to preserve and restore bird populations, including an inventory of key habitats.

Bull said a first step is a better understanding of exactly where various species can be found and in what numbers - much more detail than currently available.

"It is hard to conserve and protect birds unless we know more about them. That is going to be our big effort in the next year," he said.

Because many of the state's birders tend to go to the same places, such as Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison or East Rock Park in New Haven, Connecticut Audubon plans to work with the state's numerous land trusts and develop a standard protocol that birders could use to provide new information on bird populations from many other parts of the state.

Audubon also suggests, among other steps, that the state prioritize its list of species of "greatest conservation need" to focus attention where it is most needed.

The state Department of Environmental Protection, meanwhile, recently developed a wildlife conservation strategy to guide the department over the next 10 years. The department has identified 148 bird species of "greatest conservation need," some of them already the subject of new research. For example, the department is studying the status of whip-poor-wills, another species whose numbers are tumbling.

Overall, the department said it plans to better determine the locations, populations and threats for all of those 148 species in trouble. The department also plans to assess whether invasive plants and animals are a factor in the decline of wildlife species, and develop guidelines to minimize impacts of residential and commercial development.

Connecticut Audubon said it was not practical to suggest that Connecticut halt development, but instead the goal should be "to make the land that we do conserve the highest quality habitat that supports the largest and most diverse wildlife populations."

Contact Steve Grant at sgrant@courant.com.

...decling bird populations are something to be concerned about...