Tangential Reference in Today's Boston Globe
Study finds steep drop in Bay State’s native birds
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/09/19/bay_states_native_birds_are_in_decline_mass_audubon_finds/?p1=News_links
From the story:
The report bases its findings primarily on three surveys that for years have tracked the state’s birds. The surveys involve trained birders walking the same routes in different years around the same time, counting all the birds they encounter.
...
In a tally of winter birds called the Christmas Bird Count, the report found that between 1963 and 2008 the birds that remain in Massachusetts through the cold increased by nearly 60 percent, while more than a quarter are declining.
...
Among the steepest increases were wild turkeys, which went from being found in 16 blocks to 674; red-bellied woodpeckers, which rose from four blocks to 640; Carolina wrens, up from 43 blocks to 594; and the Canada goose, which went from 281 blocks to 747. Great blue herons, Cooper’s hawks, and the common raven also multiplied.
...
The largest decreases included the Eastern meadowlark, which dropped from 371 blocks to 89; the ring-necked pheasant, down from 341 blocks to 77; and the American kestrel, which fell from 425 blocks to 176. Other birds with precipitous declines included the white-throated sparrow, the brown thrasher, and the purple finch.
Found it interesting, reminded me of that other great wildlife documentary quote:
The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin
or the plumber may seek warmer climes in winter yet these
are not strangers to our land.
Good luck with those woodpeckers!
