Email Your Representatives and Help Our Songbirds!
Support Increased Federal Funding for Bird Conservation: Urge Re-authorization of Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act

Bills in the US Senate and House would re-authorize the existing Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act at significantly higher funding levels. Email your Senators and Reps. to make sure both bills pass for the benefit of our songbirds!

Why are these bills so important? Every year some five billion birds representing 500 different species migrate from winter habitats in Latin America to breed in North America. They face many threats, especially continuing habitat loss across the hemisphere. Many species are experiencing significant population decreases: the Cerulean Warbler and Olive-sided Flycatcher, among others, have declined by as much as 70% since the 1960s."The Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act is the only source of federal funding dedicated specifically to bird conservation throughout the Americas. This extremely effective matching grants program coordinates and funds the conservation of neotropical migratory birds and habitats in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean. It has a proven track record of reversing habitat loss and degradation and of advancing innovative management and habitat restoration strategies. Passage of these bipartisan bills could dramatically increase funding, from the current $6 million to $20 million. All grants made by this Act must be matched by other funds, so every $1 of taxpayer money leverages $3 from private sources -- potentially $60 million in additional funding for bird conservation!" (American Bird Conservancy)

>Email your Senators asking them to support S. 690 (click here to find/email them)

>Email your Representatives asking them to support H.R. 2213 (click here to find/email them)

Photo: Common Yellowthroat © 2007 E.H. Soderberg.

Seen any gulls with large, colorful wing tags lately?

We regularly get phone calls from people who see gulls sporting brightly colored tags and a letter-number code on their wings. The birds are part of a program by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to track the habits and flight patterns of gulls near the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs in eastern Massachusetts. DCR is asking the public’s help in reporting any sightings of tagged gulls. The information will help track gull movement as DCR tries to find the best way to prevent the gulls from overnighting at the reservoirs and potentially contaminating important public water supplies. DCR employees have tagged more than 200 Ring-billed, Herring and Great Black-back Gulls to date. Each species has its own tag color, and each tag has an individual number, easily legible without binoculars. Sightings have been received from central Massachusetts to Maine and Manitoba and Newfoundland, and many of these tagged gulls show up in Connecticut. Anyone who sees a wing-tagged bird is asked to try to obtain the letter-number combination on the tag (e.g., A57) and report it to: Dan Clark, 508-792-7423, ext. 215 or dan.clark@state.ma.us. Please include time and place of sighting, bird's tag color and letter-number ID. Common places to find these wintering gulls are at landfills, parking lots and ball fields. For more info visit www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/watershed/study/index.htm. Photos courtesy Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation and Research.

Connecticut Audubon Society Receives Contract Award from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Connecticut Audubon Society will perform field surveys and data analysis and provide management recommendations for a Wildlife and Flora Field Survey on five flood control projects in the Naugatuck River Area. The $30,000 contract is with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District. Dr. Anton Leenders, Conservation Biologist, will head the effort for Connecticut Audubon Society, which will provide baseline biological information necessary for the preparation of master plans for USACE's CT projects. Click here to learn more. Photo: Thomaston Dam holding back a pool (normally a dry bed reservoir). The flooded area is the Naugatuck River. Courtesy U.S. ACE

Article: Connecticut Bald Eagle Survey Update
By Julie Victoria, Wildlife Biologist
CT DEP Wildlife Division

Since 1979, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has participated in a nationwide Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey held on the second Saturday in January. During the survey period of January 11-12, 2008, 81 bald eagles -- 49 adults and 32 immature eagles -- were recorded statewide. In January 2007, 62 birds were counted. The Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey is not a complete census of the entire wintering population in Connecticut, but an index of the species' use of the state, which can be compared year to year. Click here to read the article.  Bald Eagle photo © 2007 Mathias Kohring.

Help Needed at our Center at Fairfield with Bird Data

Long-time bird banding programs at CAS Centers and other bird inventory efforts have resulted in large amounts of valuable information on bird species across the state. Some of this information is many decades old and provides invaluable “snapshots in time,” enabling us to compare historic bird diversity and density with current numbers and determine whether species are declining or not.
CAS's Science & Conservation staff is compiling and analyzing this data. But we need volunteers who can tranfer the available information from notebooks, old banding sheets and other paper formats into a computer. Click here for more information. Photo: A Saw-whet Owl is held by master bird bander Carol Millard at our Bafflin Sanctuary in Pomfret.

We have many Volunteer Opportunities available: click here.

CLEAN ENERGY. It's Real. It's Here. It's Working -- in Connecticut!

Connecticut Audubon Members, Supporters and Friends can demonstrate their commitment to a healthy environment by signing up to support clean energy. This campaign is part of a pilot program, developed by the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF). Five environmental non-profit organizations are asking constituents to enroll in the "CTCleanEnergyOptions™" program. For every 250 people who sign up from any of the 5 participating organizations, CCEF will donate a 1-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system to our Coastal Center at Milford Point, helping to create a system that will generate electricity and provide an educational exhibit for visitors with real-time monitoring available. Sign up for clean energy now! It's good for the birds, it's good for us, it's good for the environment. Click here for more info.                                                    

Click here to send us your comments and questions.

Click here for a MAP of our Centers and Sanctuaries around the state.