State of the Birds report shows pandemic impact
A federally threatened bird species saw its lowest productivity in decades indirectly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while beach restrictions protected others, according to a newly released report card from the Connecticut Audubon Society on the health of birds in the state.
“The research and conservation efforts were affected in ways big and small” by the coronavirus, said Patrick Comins, executive director of the Connecticut Audubon Society. “Usually for the worst, but in some cases it created opportunities for conservationists and scientists to slow down and take a second look at their data and analyze things and make the best of a bad situation.”
The organization presented the results of its annual Connecticut State of the Birds report at a virtual news conference last week. It has studied the state’s bird populations and habitats for decades, but this year’s report outlined the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on birds, the research arena and conservation funding.
Scott Kruitbosch, one of the report’s authors and a volunteer coordinator for the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, said the pandemic took a grip on the Northeast region just as the Alliance was starting its ninth season, which led to fewer volunteers.
As the state began to shut down last spring, many residents also ventured outdoors to find socially distant safe havens, he said. But this led to an uptick in littering, disturbances — from dogs to drones — in natural habitats, and more problems.
“These visitors were occupying many of our critical habitats at the most important juncture of the nesting cycle,” Kruitbosch said. “Even in March and April — typically quiet times — they kind of looked like mid-July because they were so full of people.”
The pandemic’s impact on the bird population and the nesting season varied depending on each species’ habitat.
The piping plovers, a federally threatened species, had their lowest productivity since 1993, Kruitbosch said. Each spring, volunteers place exclosures around plovers’ nests to allow the birds to come and go without predators devouring their homes. The wire-like cages also help to keep people away, according to the report.
But since setting them up requires many volunteers, there were fewer exclosures this year, which led to many lost nests, according to the report.
The American oystercatchers and least terns also had tough times on the islands, Kruitbosch said, but fared better on beaches because many were restricted or closed early in the pandemic. This was especially true at spots such as Sandy Point Beach in West Haven, he said.
“The city of West Haven kept it closed more often than not for the general public health and safety due to the pandemic, and that helped allow a lot of birds — including the very special black skimmers — to nest to great success there,” Kruitbosch said.
This year showed the importance of the work of volunteers, whose numbers and work were greatly impacted at the onset of the coronavirus, he said. And the piping plovers should have a much better year in 2021 with more volunteers prepared to help, he said.
“We won’t be back to a normal world, but hopefully we’ll be able to work in a much more normal sort of way,” Kruitbosch said.