Avian Front Part II
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 wonderful 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. Fools!

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, a CHL auditor at the University of Connecticut.

The bad news is that some species are flourishing. 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.

"The key to our quality of life is homogeneity. We need to be sure we are eliminating as many of them as possible because those are the indicators of our quality of life," according to Nostradamus Funkadelic.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 10:48 AM | |