Connecticut State of the Birds

Connecticut State of the Birds 2021:

Three Billion Birds are Gone. How Do We Bring them Back?

It’s been two years since the journal Science published a peer-reviewed paper that showed the public for the first time what many birders sensed was true: there are far fewer birds in North America now than there used to be.

Three billion fewer, in fact.

How do we bring them back?

In Connecticut, that conversation starts with Connecticut State of the Birds 2021.

[Publication date: December 2, 2021. Members received a copy in the mail. To get a PDF of the report, click HERE.]

“Today’s steep population declines,” writes Peter P. Marra, Ph.D., “are a clear indication that our existing conservation tools, including domestic laws and international treaties, are not sufficient to deal with present threats to birds and need to be wholly re-evaluated.”

But he adds, “Although the factors contributing to bird population declines remain elusive, we are making progress in pinpointing how to identify why, where and when the decline happens.”

Dr. Marra, an author of the Science article, is the Laudato Si Professor of Biology and the Environment at Georgetown University and the director of The Earth Commons: A Georgetown University Institute for Environment and Sustainability.

His lead article in Connecticut State of the Birds is titled, “Reimagining Bird Conservation in the 21st Century.”

Little progress on bird conservation will happen without progress on climate. Connecticut State of the Birds 2021 features an article by Brooke Bateman, Ph.D., lead climate scientist for the National Audubon Society. Dr. Bateman was instrumental in National Audubon’s determination that climate change is the single biggest threat to birds.

Her article, titled “Birds Are Telling Us It’s Time to Act on Climate Change,” explains how the intersection of bird conservation and climate change mitigation can help Connecticut meet its carbon reduction goals.

Connecticut State of the Birds also focuses on individual declining species:

Rusty Blackbirds, by Carol Foss, Ph.D., of New Hampshire Audubon.
Wood Thrush, by Calandra Stanley, Ph.D., of Georgetown University.
Semipalmated Sandpipers, by David Mizrahi, Ph.D., of New Jersey Audubon.
Roseate Terns and Common Terns, by Peter Paton, Ph.D., of the University of Rhode Island, and Pamela Loring, Ph.D., of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Long-tailed Ducks, by Timothy White, Ph.D., of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Six national experts explain what they think are the most important things to do now to bring back birds. Those experts are Scott Weidensaul; Drew Lanham, Ph.D.; Leslie Carothers; Desiree Narango, Ph.D.; Morgan Tingley, Ph.D.; Arvind Panjabi; and Deborah Cramer.

Every member of the Connecticut Audubon Society receives a copy of the report each year. If you’re a member, look for yours in the mail around Thanksgiving.

If you are not a member, join now to make sure you get your copy.

Articles in Connecticut State of the Birds are written by the best ornithologists and conservationist in the state and the region.

The report is edited by Tom Andersen, Connecticut Audubon’s communications director, and overseen by Connecticut Audubon’s top conservationists, Executive Director Patrick Comins and Milan Bull, senior director of science and conservation.

Throughout the years authors have included:

Gina McCarthy, former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Connecticut State Ornithologist Margaret Rubega of the University of Connecticut
Robert Askins and Glenn Dreyer of Connecticut College
Pulitzer Prize-nominee Scott Weidensaul
Peter Marra of Georgetown University, formerly the head of the migratory bird center at the Smithsonian.
Chris S. Elphick of the University of Connecticut
Kathleen Van Der Aue, Chair of the Connecticut Audubon Society and former president of the Connecticut Ornithological Association
David Winkler of Cornell University
Former Commissioner Rob Klee of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Tykee James, National Audubon Society
Amy Blaymore Paterson, the Connecticut Land Conservation Council
Stephen B. Oresman, former chairman of the Connecticut Audubon Society and former president of the Connecticut Ornithological Association
David Foster of the Harvard Forest
Sally Harold of The Nature Conservancy
Min Huang of the CT DEEP
Leah Lopez Schmalz, president of Save the Sound
Wayne R. Peterson of Massachusetts Audubon
Randy Dettmers of the US Fish and Wildlife Service
Jenny Dickson of the CT DEEP
Chad Seewagen of the Great Hollow Nature Preserve
Jamie Vaudrey of UConn/Avery Point
Sam Apgar of the University of Connecticut
Scott Kruitbosch, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute
And many others, including Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Patrick Comins and Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon’s senior director of science and conservation.