Bird Watchers Can Help Protect Connecticut’s Grassland Habitats

A statewide group of conservation organizations and agricultural groups, including the Audubon Societies, have announced a partnership to gather information on dwindling grassland birds and habitat in Connecticut. The online database eBird will be used to allow anyone to log sightings of grassland birds and help researchers better understand their current distribution in the state.

The Connecticut Grassland Habitat Conservation Initiative is the first major statewide action to be addressed under Connecticut’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS). Under the Grassland Initiative, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is teaming up with a wide variety of conservation and agricultural groups in an effort to inventory the existing grassland habitat and the array of wildlife species dependent on it.

“This project will provide an important baseline for existing conditions and help us understand where the resources exist so that efforts can be focused on those sites where the conservation impact will be the greatest,” said Tom Baptist, executive director for Audubon Connecticut.

Birds have been chosen as the primary indicator species for this effort. Several species of grassland-specialist birds occur only in high-quality habitat.

“If we know where the grassland birds are, we will know where the best grassland bird habitat is,” said Edward Parker, Natural Resources bureau chief. “Understanding and conserving the best sites for birds will also help to conserve a whole suite of associated wildlife species.”

Participants will log their sightings in eBird, the online citizen science ornithological database that is a joint project of Audubon and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It allows anyone to log in and enter their sightings of grassland birds and will provide a map of those grassland bird sightings to the DEP. This in turn will help focus more detailed surveys efforts on those areas that are most important to protect and manage as grassland habitat.

“This is a perfect example of a public-private partnership,” said DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy. “Birders and other citizen scientists throughout the state can put their knowledge to practical use and help us to better understand and conserve Connecticut’s grassland heritage.”

To participate, simply log on to eBird at www.ebird.org. Answer a few simple questions and choose a user name and password to be registered as a user. In the “Comments” box, type “CT Grassland Bird Survey.” In addition to providing data to this larger effort, participants will have the beginnings of an online database of their own bird sightings. There are mapping tools to help locate the spot where observation occurred; then simply estimate the numbers of each bird species observed and enter that information into the checklist.

The following birds have been chosen as the target species: upland sandpiper (endangered); American kestrel (threatened); horned lark (endangered); vesper sparrow (endangered); savannah sparrow (special concern); grasshopper sparrow (endangered); bobolink (special concern); eastern meadowlark (special concern).

It is not necessary for volunteer birders to have computer access. Grassland bird sightings can be recorded on paper. Include which grassland bird species were seen, how many, where in the state the birds were seen (be as specific as possible) and the date and time of the sightings. Volunteer birders should mail their grassland bird sightings (including their name and contact information) to: Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon Society, 2325 Burr Street, Fairfield, CT 06824.