Tuesday, February 26, 2013

FOREST BIRDS OF THE LAST GREEN VALLEY NOW AVAILABLE




Forest Birds of the Last Green Valley, the preliminary report from the eight year long Forest Bird Survey of Southern New England, is now available for free download.  It is may be obtained from Bird Conservation Contributions, the open access scientific journal of Bird Conservation Research, Inc.  Printed copies are also available through the BCR web site.  The report covers the first two years of the survey and provides initial estimates of populations, distributions and habitat use of birds in eastern Connecticut.

Although the report, first published in 2003, was based on limited data and analyses, it provided for the region the first fully quantitative conservation planning resource for birds.  Environmental planners have historically been able to draw upon detailed data on soils, geology and land cover in making conservation decisions, but they have had virtually nothing to use on wildlife.

This first report is to be superseded by Forest Birds of Connecticut and Rhode Island, an atlas of forest bird resources of the region.  The atlas will cover the full eight years of study and, as such, will make use of greatly increased sample sizes.  Duplication of sampling during the study period also will permit assessment of findings in light of temporal variation in bird populations.


Friday, February 15, 2013

FOREST BIRD POPULATION ESTIMATES NEARLY COMPLETE


Final computations of the regional populations of Connecticut and Rhode Island’s forest birds are presently underway.  This is, however, only one aspect of the ongoing analysis of the enormous quantities of data gathered during the Forest Bird Survey of Southern New England.  Upcoming analyses include characterization of the habitats of Rhode Island and western Connecticut as well as analysis of the relationship between habitat and bird populations. When complete, our analyses will result in the publication of Forest Birds of Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Some of the most recently computed population estimates follow:

Black-and-white Warbler:

Northeast CT: 15,671
Southeast CT: 10,983
Central CT: 10,829
Northwest CT: 34,438
Southwest CT: 9,480
RI: 23,332

Blackburnian Warbler: 

Northeast CT: 11,786
Southeast CT: 2,910
Central CT: 1539
Northwest CT: 44,778
Southwest CT: 747
RI: 739

Black-throated Green Warbler:

Northeast CT: 15,373
Southeast CT: 5,392
Central CT: 4,861
Northwest CT: 31,163
Southwest CT: 4,511
RI: 11,365

Yellow-rumped Warbler:

Northeast CT: 1,721
Southeast CT: 0
Central CT: 0
Northwest CT: 6,413
Southwest CT: 0
RI: 2,878

Magnolia Warbler:

Northeast CT: 862
Southeast CT: 425
Central CT: 450
Northwest CT: 6,772
Southwest CT: 0
RI: 0