CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS

2013
2011
THE SEVENTH HABITAT

CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013

 CONNECTICUT AUDUBON SOCIETY Letter From The President
The Connecticut Audubon Society conserves Connecticut’s environment through
science-based education and advocacy focused on the state’s bird populations and their Robert Martinez
habitats. Founded in 1898, Connecticut Audubon Society operates nature facilities in President, Connecticut Audubon Society
Fairfield, Milford, Glastonbury and Pomfret as well as an EcoTravel office in Essex and

an Environmental Advocacy effort in Hartford. Connecticut Audubon Society manages 19
wildlife sanctuaries around the state, preserves over 2,600 acres of open space in Connecticut
and educates over 200,000 children and adults annually. Working exclusively in the
state of Connecticut for over 100 years, Connecticut Audubon Society is an independent
organization, not affiliated with any national or governmental group. For membership and
other information, please visit www.ctaudubon.org.
Connecticut Audubon Society
Board of Directors 2012-2013
Ralph Wood, Chairman
Deirdre Silberstein, Vice Chair
Christina Clayton, Secretary
Joe Mallory, Treasurer
William Cotter, Assistant Secretary
Stephen B. Oresman, Chairman Emeritus
Robert Martinez, President
David Blagys
Scott Isherwood
Peter Kunkel
Larry Lunden
Judith F. Richardson
Edward Rodenbach
John Salisbury
Thomas Sweeney
Lawrence Walsh
DeVer G. Warner
Benjamin Williams
Connecticut Audubon Society Offices
STATE HEADQUARTERS
2325 Burr Street, Fairfield, CT 06824
203-259-6305
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm
CAS ECOTRAVEL
30 Plains Rd., PO Box 903, Essex, CT 06426
860-767-0660 800-996-8747
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm
Director: Andrew Griswold
Connecticut Audubon Society Centers
CAS BIRDCRAFT MUSEUM
314 Unquowa Road, Fairfield, CT 06824
203-259-0416
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 10 am-5 pm
Saturday, Noon-5 pm
Director: Nelson North
CAS COASTAL CENTER AT MILFORD POINT
1 Milford Point Road, Milford, CT 06460
203-878-7440
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am-4 pm
Sunday, Noon-4 pm
Associate Director: Frank Gallo
CAS CENTER AT FAIRFIELD
2325 Burr Street, Fairfield, CT 06824
203-259-6305, ext. 109
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 am-4:30 pm
Director: Nelson North
CAS CENTER AT GLASTONBURY
1361 Main Street
Glastonbury, CT 06033-3105
860-633-8402
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 1-5 pm
Saturday, 10 am-5 pm; Sunday, 1-4 pm
Director: Cindy Bartholomew
CAS GRASSLAND CENTER AT POMFRET
189 Pomfret Street (Rte. 169)
Pomfret Center, CT 06259
860-928-4948
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, Noon-4 pm
Director: Sarah Heminway
CAS AT TRAIL WOOD
93 Kenyon Road, Hampton, CT 06247
860-928-4948
Hours: 168-acre sanctuary open dawn to dusk
Director: Sarah Heminway
Twan Leenders
The air column above us is dense with bugs. It forms a
shifting mass of protein as important for many bird species as the
plankton of an estuary is for fish. Spiders, beetles, flies, termites,
aphids, wasps, midges: they and other organisms populate an
aerial habitat that is just starting to be studied.
Many of our most beautiful and thrilling birds, including
Barn Swallows, Common Nighthawks, Eastern Kingbirds,
Purple Martins, and Wood Pewees foray into that habitat to feed.
Unfortunately, many of those aerial insectivores are declining in
number, some significantly. Our Connecticut State of the Birds
2013 report, The Seventh Habitat and the Decline of Our Aerial
Insectivores, is an effort to consolidate what we know about this
issue for the general reader interested in conservation.
In our previous seven Connecticut State of the Birds reports
we have assembled and digested well-established research to
make specific recommendations about, for example, protecting
forest birds or prioritizing conservation strategies. The dearth of
scientific knowledge on this year’s subject means those kinds of
recommendations are harder to make this year. Instead, we intend
Connecticut State of the Birds 2013 to be a wake-up call. A serious
problem exists: aerial insectivores are in critical decline. But there
is not nearly enough research to know for sure why. So let’s get down to the serious business of
identifying the causes and working toward solutions.
The bulk of this year’s Actions & Recommendations acknowledge that we need to know more
about the Seventh Habitat. We are calling for more research and for a greater recognition among
ornithologists, entomologists, policy makers, and concerned citizens that the air above us is rich
with life—and that our birds depend on it. We will organize a special conference to bring together
leaders in the field for a broader and deeper understanding of the issue. We are calling on the State
of Connecticut to be a leader in the reduction of the use of harmful pesticides. And we will work
with landowners to manage their habitat so more of our aerial insectivores have places to nest.
As always, we thank our authors for their generous assistance. We hope you find The Seventh
Habitat and the Decline of Aerial Insectivores not just interesting, but worth acting on as well.
Sincerely,
Robert Martinez,
President

CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE

CONNECTICUT BIRDS
STATE 2013BIRDS 2013
OF THE CONNECTICUT
CONNECTICUT STATE
STATE OF THE BIRDS THE BIRDS 2013
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 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS
THE SEVENTH HABITAT & THE About The Authors
DECLINE OF OUR AERIAL INSECTIVORES
Connecticut Audubon Society
2325 Burr Street Table of Contents STEPHEN B. ORESMAN
is a retired management
Fairfield, CT 06824 consultant, business JON McCRACKEN
executive, and corporate has been studying
203-259-6305 birds since he was
director. He has a lifelong
The Seventh Habitat ......................................................................... 3 interest in birds and knee-high to a
Connecticut State of the Birds Grasshopper Sparrow.
Stephen B. Oresman, Chairman Emeritus, CAS conservation starting as
He obtained his honors
a research assistant for
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife BSc in zoology at the
Editorial Director
The Mysterious Decline of Aerial Insectivores ............................ 6 Service. He is a past University of Western
Milan G. Bull president of the Connecticut Ontario in 1977. After
Jon D. McCracken, Director of National Programs, Bird Studies Canada graduating, he worked
Editorial Support Ornithological Association,
and is currently chairman as an environmental
Charles Watson In Thin Air ........................................................................................ 10 emeritus of the Connecticut consultant for a
Audubon Society. variety of Canadian
Graphic Design Milan G. Bull, CAS Senior Director of Science and Conservation government agencies,
Paul J. Fusco non-government
organizations, and
Julian Hough Thoughts on the Air & the Birds That Make Their Living There .... 12 industry. In 1989, he
Photography David Ward Winkler, Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell MILAN G. BULL is senior joined the staff of Bird Studies Canada — a national non-
director of science and governmental organization that focuses on the study and
Paul J. Fusco University conservation for the conservation of birds. He is the Director of National Programs,
Julian Hough Connecticut Audubon and has helped lead the development of a wide variety of
Society and is a long- research, monitoring, conservation, and educational programs
Printing Chimney Swifts in Connecticut .................................................... 18 time expedition leader to locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. He is also the
Graphic Image, Milford, CT Margaret Rubega, Associate Professor, University of Connecticut, State destinations throughout the co-chair of the national committee that assesses the status of
Americas, and to Australia, birds at risk in Canada.
Acknowledgements Ornithologist Antarctica, and Africa. He
Anthony Vogl, BSA, CT Council Shannon Kearney-McGee, Avian Population Analyst, Connecticut Department has a BS degree in wildlife
Gina McCarthy, EPA management from the
of Energy and Environmental Protection University of Connecticut DAVID WINKLER grew up as a naturalist in the Central
Tanner Steeves, Research Assistant, School of Public Health, Yale University and a MS degree in biology Valley of California. After a Bachelor’s degree in zoology at
from the University of Davis and a PhD at Berkeley (working on gulls at Mono Lake
Bridgeport. He currently is under Frank Pitelka), he did post-docs at the University of
Connecticut Audubon Society The Purple Martin, A Classic Aerialist .......................................... 22 a member of the Citizens Gothenburg (Sweden) and Oxford University (UK) before
Advisory Council to
Board of Directors John Tautin, Executive Director, Purple Martin Conservation Association Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection,
coming to Cornell in
1985 as a Lecturer,
Conservation Committee and was a founding director and past president of the Connecticut Post-Doc, and then
Scott Isherwood, Chair Bulbat in the Sky: The Legacy of a Loser? ................................. 26 Ornithological Association. He has also published numerous professor starting
articles and speaks statewide on topics relating to ornithology and in 1988. Ever since
Christina Clayton, Co-Chair Wayne R. Petersen, Director of Important Bird Areas, Massachusetts the environment. Milan and his wife, Cathy, reside in Fairfield. coming to Ithaca,
Michael Aurelia Audubon Society Winkler has been
studying Tree Swallows
Milan G. Bull there, and these studies
Robert Martinez Master Aerial Insectiviores: Bats .................................................. 29 have branched out into
Jenny Dickson, Supervising Wildlife Biologist, Connecticut Department of comparative studies
Stephen B. Oresman MARGARET RUBEGA is an associate professor in the of swallow breeding
Energy and Environmental Protection Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the
Frederick D. Schroeder biology and movements
University of Connecticut, throughout the Western
Kathleen Van Der Aue and is the Connecticut Hemisphere. Accused
Recommendations and Observations ......................................... 33 State Ornithologist. While rightly of having his
attending Robert E. Fitch
Milan G. Bull, CAS Senior Director of Science and Conservation High School in Groton,
head in the clouds at
times, he has long been
she spent many hours fascinated by the three-dimensional world inhabited by the
at Bluff Point State Park tiny masters of the air that he studies.
when the adults thought
she was elsewhere. She
received a BS in Biology
Front cover: at Southern Connecticut
State University and a
Common Nighthawk. PhD from the University
Photo by Julian Hough. of California, Irvine. She
studies structure, function,
and mechanics in birds,
Copyright 2013 Back cover: especially in the matter
of how and what they eat
Connecticut Audubon Society Eastern Kingbird.
and in the context of degrading habitats. Recent projects
2325 Burr Street, Fairfield, CT 06824 Photo by Paul Fusco. have focused on hummingbirds, Monk Parakeets, and
www.ctaudubon.org Chimney Swifts in CT.

CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE

CONNECTICUT BIRDS
STATE OF2013
THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 1
 About The Authors
The Seventh Habitat
Stephen B. Oresman
SHANNON KEARNEY-MCGEE is an avian TANNER STEEVES is a research associate at Yale University Chairman Emeritus
population analyst with the Connecticut with the Vector Ecology Lab where he studies the role of birds,
Department of Energy and small mammals, and ticks in the natural cycling of human Connecticut Audubon Society
Environmental Protection- pathogens. He previously spent several years working with the
Wildlife Division. Her Connecticut Department of
primary focus is research Energy and Environmental

T
and monitoring of bird Protection-Wildlife Division
species of greatest where he participated in he mission of the Connecticut Audubon Society There is a seventh habitat, however, which none of
conservation need. a wide variety of projects
She has initiated many including research and
is the conservation of birds and their habitat. us have ever walked through and that is probably the
monitoring and research monitoring of raptors, forest Birds—because of our Audubon heritage, and least known and certainly the least studied. Which is
programs focusing on birds, grassland birds, and because birds are colorful, frequently easy to observe, the aerial habitat. This habitat has been brought seri-
species such as woodland shrubland birds.
raptors, owls, whip-poor- and excellent indicators of the health of our environ- ously to our attention by the work of Canadian scien-
wills, Chimney Swifts, ment. Habitat—because habitat supports all wildlife tists who show that aerial insectivores, the birds that
nighthawks, and shrubland
birds. starting with the plants and insects that make up the feed in the sky on the wing, are in serious decline. The
base of the food chain all the way up to the top preda- following article by Jon D. McCracken of Bird Studies
tors. Canada has outlined the startling results of this work.
The initial issues of State of the Birds concentrated For example, the familiar Barn Swallow is now on the
JOHN TAUTIN is executive
on the six key habitats and the birds that use them in endangered list in Canada. The causes of this decline
director of the Purple Martin nesting, feeding, and migration. These major habitats are not yet clear.
Conservation Association. WAYNE R. PETERSEN is director of the Massachusetts Important Bird are probably familiar to most of us through visits and
Areas (IBA) Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Among his
He is a native of
Northwestern Pennsylvania many writing projects he is co-author of Birds of Massachusetts (1993) observation, and Connecticut Audubon manages The Aerial Habitat
where growing up on a and co-editor of the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas (2003). He is sanctuaries that contain each of them. They are:
also closely associated with the seasonal distribution of New England But before talking about the birds, we need to ask
dairy farm put him in close • Coastal beaches and offshore islands
touch with the outdoors bird life and with the Important Bird Areas of Massachusetts and beyond. what the aerial habitat is and what it contains. Evi-
and instilled a life-long Wayne leads international birding tours for Mass Audubon and Field • Tidal salt marshes dently it is full of small organisms, mostly tiny arach-
Guides, Inc. and serves on
interest in wildlife and the
the advisory committee of • Shrublands nids (predominantly spiders but also mites, etc.). It
environment. In 1974 he
joined the US Department the Massachusetts Natural • Grasslands has been estimated that a square mile of sky from 20
Heritage and Endangered
of Interior’s Fish and
Species Program and the
• Inland wetlands feet to 500 feet contains 32 million arthropods. On a
Wildlife Service at Laurel,
Maryland, for a career in Stellwagen Bank National • Forests
migratory bird conservation. During his career, he held a variety Marine Sanctuary. He was
the recipient of the American

PAUL J. FUSCO
of staff and administrative positions at the Patuxent Wildlife
Research Center and at the Washington, D.C. headquarters Birding Association’s
office of the Service. In his last position with Interior, John was Ludlow Griscom Award for
Chief of the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory. outstanding contributions in
regional ornithology.

JENNY DICKSON is Supervising Wildlife Biologist at the

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
As leader of the DEEP’s Wildlife Diversity Program (WDP), she
specializes in songbirds, inland and freshwater wetland birds, and
small mammals, including bats. She received a BS degree in natural
resource conservation with a specialty in wildlife from the University
of Connecticut and a MS degree in wildlife management from West
Virginia University. Jenny has also worked as a research biologist for
the federal Environmental
Protection Agency on
songbird toxicology and as
a naturalist at the Kellogg
Environmental Center in
Derby, Connecticut. She has
served as vice-chair of the
Northeast Partners in Flight
Working Group, president of
the New England Chapter
of The Wildlife Society,
and is on the executive
committee of the Northeast
Bat Working Group.

2 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 3
smaller scale a typical clothes closet of about 10 cubic flycatchers, including the familiar Eastern Phoebe,

PAUL J. FUSCO
yards would contain 6. and collectively is called “Salliers.”
Milan Bull, Connecticut Audubon Society’s Senior
Director of Science and Conservation, calls this aerial An Interesting Peculiarity
habitat the “invisible habitat.” His article (p. 10) de- Aerial insectivores have an interesting peculiarity.
scribes what is known about the huge number and They are more dependent than most birds on man-
various types of organisms that make it up. made structures for nest sites. Purple Martins are to-
Another term used to describe this biomass in the tally dependent on martin houses put up by humans.
sky is aerial plankton. Just as the microorganisms Chimney Swifts not surprisingly prefer chimneys.
called plankton are the base of the food chain in the Barn Swallows and Cliff Swallows nest on barns and
oceans, so are the arachnids the plankton of the sky. bridges, and if you have Bluebird boxes you know
In his article Dr. David Winkler of Cornell University that Tree Swallows will frequently beat the Bluebirds
(p. 12) describes what we know about aerial plankton to them. Finally Common Nighthawks like to nest on
and the similarities and differences between aerial flat roofs of buildings.
plankton and the much better known and studied One wonders where these birds nested before they
oceanic plankton. used human structures. Were Chimney Swifts less
That the air is full of food is not surprising if you common before chimneys and Barn Swallows rarer
have ever watched Tree Swallows around their nest before barns with open sides or broken windows?
boxes. They are constantly in the air swooping and This is an ancient and worldwide behavior pattern.
darting for it seems like hours at a time. They must The Common Swift of Europe has nested in the West-
be catching something, as they have plenty of places ern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem since the
to perch and rest and they would not expend all that beginning of recorded history.
energy flying if they weren’t catching food. Also, al- Even the flycatchers, which tend to nest in forests,
though it is now a rarer sight, Common Nighthawks have one species that likes human habitations. The
and Chimney Swifts spend the evening hours in con- Eastern Phoebe will nest almost anywhere. Many of
stant flight high over our cities and towns obviously us have had them nest on a pillar by the back door
feeding in the air. Such birds are logically enough
called aerial insec- Barn Swallows depend on manmade structures for nest sites.

JULIAN HOUGH
tivores. A complete
listing of those where we disturb them going in and out and they pay the decline in birds. The decline of some species of
found in Connecti- us back by making a mess of droppings. They also bats, however, has been linked to disease. There are
cut is displayed in build under bridges and in woodsheds and the like. eight species of bats in Connecticut. The trend in bat
the centerfold. The decline of aerial insectivores is not limited to populations is described in an article by Jenny Dick-
Aerial insecti- Canada. In Connecticut the Chimney Swift is in seri- son of the Connecticut Department of Energy and En-
vores are a particu- ous trouble, as described in the article by Dr. Marga- vironmental Protection (p. X).
larly interesting and ret Rubega (p. 8), the Connecticut State Ornithologist. So what is the problem with the aerial habitat and
diverse group of Both the Common Nighthawk and Whip-poor-will the aerial plankton biomass? And what is going on
birds. They include are listed under the Connecticut Endangered Species with the tiny insects above our heads and the birds
swallows and swifts Act. Formerly I saw hundreds of Common Night- and bats that feed upon them? There are a number of
and the Common hawks every evening in August and early Septem- hypotheses, including acid rain and increased use of
Nighthawk and ber migrating along the shoreline towns in Fairfield pesticides. We can also see when a forest is fragment-
Whip-poor-will and County. They are scarce today. Common Nighthawks ed or a tidal marsh filled, but what is happening with
are called “Cours- are the topic of the article by Wayne Petersen of Mas- the tiny insects above our heads and the birds and
ers,” a term that sachusetts Audubon (p. 26), and the article by John bats that feed on them? Clearly these are areas where
describes how they Tautin (p. 22) focuses on Purple Martins. still more research is needed. But along with such re-
feed. Aerial insecti- search, we also urge specific actions by governmental
vores also include Bats Are Declining As Well bodies and by individuals on their own properties.
birds that perch in Then there are the bats. They predominate at night See the recommendation section (p. X) for details of
trees and feed by when most of the birds have left the aerial environ- what needs to be done.
launching forth into ment. They use the same habitat as the birds and
the air. This group many of them are threatened as well, suggesting they * * * * * *
Chimney Swifts feed high in the air column.
consists of various are impacted by the same conditions that are causing

4 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 5
The Mysterious Decline of Aerial We also know that large acreages of abandoned altitudes than flycatchers and Eastern Whip-poor-

Insectivores
marginal farmland (especially pastures and hay-
fields) in many parts of eastern Canada and the
northeastern U.S. have been reverting to forest cover
since at least the 1950s. This has resulted in the loss
of open-country foraging habitat that several aerial
Jon D. McCracken,
insectivores are strongly associated with. However,
Director of National Programs it again cannot explain population declines of forest-
Bird Studies Canada dwelling birds like Eastern Wood-Pewee and Eastern
Whip-poor-will. Nor does it explain why some open-
country (non-aerial) specialists like Eastern Bluebird
are faring so well.
wills, which “sally” from hunting perches. Some spe-
cies in the guild, most notably several of the flycatch-
ers, are also able to supplement their diet with other
types of food, including terrestrial insects, berries,
and seeds.
Exceptionally little is known about the popula-
tion status of flying insects in North America. What
we do know is that bird populations can and do re-
spond quickly to changes in the abundance of their
food supplies. So it’s not unreasonable to suspect that
aerial insectivores are declining, at least in part, as a

PAUL J. FUSCO
ysterious, in- One cannot escape the fact that the single trait that result of some change in food supply at one or more
explicable, this otherwise disparate group of birds shares is a points in their annual life-cycle—whether it’s on their
strange, and reliance on flying insects during all or most of their breeding grounds, wintering grounds, along their mi-
alarming. Terms like life-cycle. Largely unseen by us, a whole ecosphere of gration routes, or all three.
these are increasingly what is essentially “aerial plankton” is flying in the Changes in insect availability could be happening
being used to describe airspace above us. We see only a tiny fraction of this on more than one front. It could be that the overall
the declines of popula- insect life as it buzzes around our heads or visits our abundance of flying insects is falling, perhaps as a re-
tions of nightjars, swifts, flowers. Far greater numbers are flying—or merely sult of decades of intensive, wide-scale insect control
and swallows (plus a drifting or “ballooning” on air currents—hundreds programs associated with agriculture and forestry. Or
number of flycatchers) and even thousands of feet overhead. perhaps there are subtle shifts taking place in the sea-
across large parts of the Aerial insectivores exploit this rich food supply sonal timing of insect emergence as a consequence of
United States and Can- to various extents. Some like swallows, swifts, and climate change. Even minor mismatches in the timing
ada. These birds repre- nighthawks are better adapted for foraging at higher of seasonal cycles of birds and their insect prey have
sent the ‘aerial insecti-
vore’ feeding guild—the Northeast Population Trends of Aerial Insectivores
one that specializes in a
diet of flying insects.
The declines are
showing up in long-
term monitoring pro-
grams like the North
American Breeding Bird
Survey, and are rein- In eastern North America, Whip-poor-wills have declined nearly 90% since 1966.
forced by results from
breeding bird atlas projects that have been repeated in could reveal important clues into the underlying
a number of states and provinces. Species like Com- causes of the declines.
mon Nighthawk, Eastern Whip-poor-will, Chimney
Swift, Barn Swallow, Bank Swallow, and Olive-sided Looking for the Trigger
Flycatcher are facing particular difficulties. Some of The mechanisms responsible for the declines are
them have experienced population losses of over 90% not known, but several factors are likely acting to-
since 1966 in eastern North America. gether. Some are undoubtedly affecting certain spe-
If you live in the Northeast, the situation is gen- cies more than others. For example, reduced availabil-
erally worse than elsewhere. A recent study found ity of particular kinds of artificial nesting substrates
that aerial insectivore declines across North America (e.g., open chimneys, open wooden barns, and gravel
generally follow both a latitudinal and longitudinal rooftops) helps explain, at least in part, declines of a
gradient, such that they tend to be stronger in the few species like Chimney Swift, Barn Swallow, and
North than the South, and greater in the East than in perhaps Common Nighthawk. However, we also see
the West. They are also most pronounced for long- losses occurring in species that should be profiting
distance migrants that winter in South America. An from increased provisioning of nest boxes (e.g., Tree
in-depth examination of these geographic patterns Swallow and Purple Martin).
Courtesy: North American Bird Conservation Initiative Canada

6 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 7

JIM CONRAD
Mayflies provide an important food source for insectivores.
all flying insects have either a terres-
Possible Causes For Decline: trial life stage (e.g., as a caterpillar)
or an aquatic one (e.g., mosquito lar-
• Reduced availability of man-made nesting vae). If the sheer abundance of all fly-
sites (barns, open chimneys, gravel roof tops) ing insects were declining everywhere
across the board, then one would ex-
• Loss of open-country foraging habitat
pect that bird species that eat them
• Changes in insect availability before they go airborne would also be
• Exposure to environmental contaminants experiencing widespread patterns of
decline. But this isn’t the case. There
• Reduced availability of calcium, a
are many examples of non-aerial spe-
consequence of acid rain cies of insectivorous birds increasing
in abundance. This discrepancy also
calls into question the seasonal “food
been shown to have important implications for bird supply mismatch” hypothesis.
survivorship and nesting productivity. This is partic- Other potential causes of the decline of aerial in-
ularly true in the spring in northern latitudes, when sectivores include exposure to environmental con-
energy demands for insect-eating birds can be highly taminants such as mercury and pesticides, which can
sensitive to swings in temperature. It is well known negatively affect birds’ longevity and reproductive
that an ill-timed cold-snap in the spring can lead to output. Reduced availability of calcium, which is a
mass starvation of swallows and martins. legacy consequence of acid rain, could also be impli-
cated. A good source of dietary calcium is essential
Some Puzzling Anomalies during the breeding season to optimize egg produc-
As intriguing as some of these possibilities are, tion and for bone development of young birds.
Several other hypotheses have been suggested.
there are also aspects that make you scratch your
Every smoking gun has a trigger, but this one seems
head. For one thing, before they become airborne,
particularly elusive.
8 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
Research Priorities
PAUL J. FUSCO
Because declines tend
to be greatest in Canada
where I live, gaining a
firm understanding of the
problem faced by aerial
insectivores is emerging
as a top research priority
here. Interest is also catch-
ing on in the northeastern
U.S., particularly for goat-
suckers and swifts. So far,
two scientific workshops
have been convened in
Canada to begin to iden-
tify the highest-priority
research topics.
The questions are not
only large and complex,
but the geography in- The Eastern Kingbird is a priority for future evaluation.
volved is even more ex-
pansive. Answers are most likely going to come from while another has begun on Eastern Whip-poor-wills.
the creation of international collaborative networks Many more of these types of studies are badly needed
of scientists, who team up together to focus on one or for other species of interest.
more research questions.
Basic population ecology is going to underpin the What Does the Future Hold?
research agenda. For any species, population declines
In Canada, Chimney Swift, Eastern Whip-poor-
are ultimately driven by increased mortality rates or will, Common Nighthawk, Olive-sided Flycatcher,
falling reproductive rates, and sometimes both. So and Barn Swallow have all been recently assessed as
far, we simply do not know whether any of these ba- ‘Threatened’ species owing to severe population de-
sic demographic measures have been changing over clines. More aerial insectivores can be expected to be
time for any aerial insectivore, even for well-studied added to Canada’s list of species at risk. Evaluations
species like the Tree Swallow. are already underway for Eastern Wood-Pewee and
Also high on the to-do list is to gather much bet- Bank Swallow. Black Swift will also be assessed short-
ter information on what aerial insectivores are do- ly, and Eastern Kingbird is emerging as a priority for
ing during the non-breeding period, what habitats future evaluation.
they require, and what threats they face away from Because most aerial insectivores are still common
the breeding grounds. For long-distance migrants, and have large breeding ranges, the chances of any of
we have only a vague understanding of where they them becoming extinct in the next couple of decades
spend their winters in South America, let alone seem quite remote. We still have time to figure this
the routes they take to get there and back. Some of out. That’s the good news.
these questions are just starting to be cracked open The bad news is that unless rates of decline are
through the use of new technologies that allow bi- halted or reversed in a timely way, total population
ologists to track the whereabouts of birds over the collapse eventually becomes something of a math-
course of a year. ematical certainty. Even more worrisome are the pro-
Using tiny light-sensitive gizmos called “geoloca- found sociological and economical implications that
tors,” a collaborative team led by Dr. Bridget Stutch- might be facing us if it turns out that declines of aerial
bury (York University in Toronto) has been gathering insectivores are being driven by changes happening
important new information on Purple Martin migra- to populations of flying insects.
tion routes and identification and use of their tropi-
cal wintering areas. A similar international collabora- * * * * * *
tive will soon start yielding results on Tree Swallows,
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 9
In Thin Air of the ship when it was over 90 miles from shore. With
advanced radar technology, we are now beginning to
understand the size and complexity of this biomass
Milan G. Bull and the way it moves around the planet. What we
Senior Director of Science and Conservation don’t know yet is how it affects our aerial insecti-
Connecticut Audubon Society vores: the swifts, swallows, and other birds that foray
into it for food.
The Aerial Biomass Is Huge
What is the composition of this biomass? Stud-
ies have identified hundreds of species in the aerial
plankton. Butterflies and flies have been found at
altitudes of 5,000 feet; aphids, wasps, midges, and
beetles at 6,000 feet; spiders at 12-14,000 feet; and a
termite at 19,000 feet. Dr. Jerome Rovner, a leading
arachnologist (authority on spiders) at Ohio Uni-
versity, observes that “Ballooning spiders indeed
make up a large component of the aerial plankton.”

JOSEF MOHYLA
oursing the air almost be- Dr. Jason Chapman and his group of researchers As Darwin noted, many spiders are known to “bal-
yond the reach of vision, at the Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Department at loon.” They extend strands of silk into the air that
small parties of Chimney Rothamsted Research in Britain are among the lead- are caught in the wind, carrying the spider up into
Swifts are obviously on a feeding ers in this study of aerial plankton. Chapman has been the atmosphere and away on the wind currents. Most
mission, but what are they feed- using advanced radar technology to study the com- ballooning spiders are immatures, but why do they
ing on up there? Swallows, night- plexity of this biomass. He found that many insects “balloon”? Studies have indicated that food shortag-
hawks, and other birds also seine undertake long-range seasonal migrations to tempo- es and overcrowding stimulate aerial dispersal, but
the sky for largely unseen insect rary breeding sites that are hundreds or thousands of other environmental factors may also be at play.
food. There are feeding strategies kilometers apart. How they adapted behaviorally to The fact that spiders and other insects, driven by
among the bird species employed accomplish this is unknown. They also found that the intercontinental winds, are drifting in the atmosphere
here as well. Swifts and night- ability to select the correct high-altitude winds at the at more than 12,000 feet has implications for global
hawks are feeding in the upper lay- right season is widespread among large day-flying warming, changing wind and weather patterns, and
ers, sometimes 400 feet high and (and night-flying) insects and that insects even take invasive species—indeed, a whole host of factors that
higher, while Barn Swallows skim flight headings that partially correct for crosswind may be influencing all aerial insectivores.
the surfaces of lakes and meadows. drift! These flight behaviors match the sophistica- Understanding this ecosystem and the interrela-
Whatever the composition of the tion of those seen in migrating birds and help explain tionships of arthropods, birds, and bats that use the
food source, it seems invisible to us how high-flying insects migrate successfully between aerosphere will be important for bird conservation,
on the ground. In fact, although the seasonal habitats. Chapman also concludes that this but also for maintaining biodiversity, human health,
Many species of birds feed exclusively on flying insects.
sky appears transparent, we are ac- aerial biomass is huge. Using radar, the scientists and the environmental health of our planet.
tually sitting beneath an enormous calculated that if you add up all the insects passing
mass of animals, day and night—a biomass cloud that mile of Louisiana countryside contained an average above you in a .6 mile column of air during a typical * * * * * *
we are just beginning to understand and appreciate. of 25 million insects and perhaps as many as 36 mil- spring and summer month, it would add up to over
We began to look more closely at this phenom- lion. Later, Dr. Gilbert Waldbauer, Professor Emeritus three billion insects!

KATE REDMOND
enon when we learned that nearly all birds that feed of Entomology at the University of Illinois, estimated In the U.S., the study of aerial
only on flying insects are declining, and although that during the daylight in May, a volume of air one plankton is ramping up. Dr. Thom-
there may be countless factors involved here, the mile square extending from 20 feet above the ground as Kunz, professor of biology and
one that cannot be overlooked is the food source. to an altitude of 500 feet contained 32 million arthro- director of the Center of Ecology
What this biomass contains, how it moves, and what pods. He said that “This amounts to 6 arthropods per and Conservation Biology at Bos-
factors influence it have been subjects of discussion 10 cubic yards of air. Ten cubic yards is quite a small ton University, has introduced a
for decades. space, about the size of a small clothes closet.” Wald- new discipline called Aerioecology,
bauer also noted that the aerial plankton at night are which focuses on the aerosphere
An Astonishing Number Of Insects only about half as numerous as those during the day. and the biomass of organisms that
In 1926, P. A. Glick and his colleagues at the U.S. In January 2006, a mass mortality of a species of inhabit and depend on this environ-
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine be- ground beetle, Mecodema curvidens, resulted in a large ment for their existence. The new
gan collecting insects by airplane using sticky traps ocean beach drift on the southern Atlantic Coast of discipline combines atmospheric
beneath the plane’s wing. Over the next five years, Brazil. The dead insects piled up along nine miles of science, geography, ecology, and
the researchers flew thousands of trips over Louisi- shoreline at an average of about one foot in width. computational science in ways that
ana and collected tens of thousands of insects at al- This amounted to a conservative estimate of 18 mil- even its pioneers could not have
titudes up to 15,000 feet. They were astounded by lion insects! predicted. Technological advances
the enormous numbers of insects they discovered as The presence of this aerial phenomenon had been that now allow meteorologists to
well as the heights at which they found them. They observed for years. Charles Darwin, during his fa- count the raindrops in a cloud are
estimated that at any given time on any given day mous voyage on the Beagle, was astonished at a mass opening new windows into our un- Ballooning spiders are an important component of the aerial biomass.
of the year, the air column rising above one square of ballooning spiders that parachuted onto the deck derstanding of the aerial biomass.

10 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 11
Thoughts on the Air and the Birds

PAUL J. FUSCO
That Make Their Living There
David Ward Winkler
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University

T
he growing ac-

JULIAN HOUGH
knowledgment
that populations
of aerial insectivorous
birds in the northeast-
ern U.S. and southeast-
ern Canada are declin-
ing has caused us to
reflect on all aspects of
the biology of this fas-
cinating guild of birds.
One of the aspects of
their biology that has
most fascinated many
is the habitat they live Tree Swallows seine aerial plankton.
in. Of course, all fly-
ing birds live in the air
every time they take in a temperate lake is emblematic of its tremendous pressure differences can arise over very short distanc-
flight. But in this essay physical constancy and the relative predictability of es—pressure differences that can produce tornadoes
I will concentrate on its behavior: in summer a layer of warm, light wa- and hurricanes and typhoons. Anyone who has lived
the most aerial of birds, ter, often only a few meters deep, floats on top of a through one of these disastrous phenomena will nev-
the aerial coursers. deeper, colder layer with a temperature of about four er accept that the air is insubstantial!
These are the birds degrees Centigrade. The light, warm water on top Air follows all the same rules of fluid mechan-
that make their liv- Wilson’s Storm-petrels feed on oceanic plankton. is remarkably stable. Even with considerable wind, ics as does water, but everything about air is much
ing in the air almost although the upper layer may slosh back and forth more changeable. Even when it is not up to some of
full time, the birds that feed on the wing in long sus- that the movements of the tiny prey are ruled more across the lake basin in slow, low waves, it still re- its more spectacular manifestations of viscosity, there
tained flights that can last many hours or even days. by the movements of the medium in which they live mains stratified atop the colder and heavier deep wa- are many signs of its ever-changing currents and gra-
Birds like flycatchers certainly foray into the air every than by the results of their own exertions. Thus, to ters. This thermal stratification lasts all summer and dients. In summer, a dandelion seed or scrap of cel-
time they fly after a passing insect, but they are very understand the distribution and variability of their eventually erodes into a fully mixing lake only after lophane can serve as a reliable indicator of the tortu-
seldom more than a few meters above the Earth, as food, we need to understand the movements of water the bright sunshine and heat of summer are replaced ous currents otherwise hidden in a bright summer’s
they always return to their perch between foraging versus air. by the dark, cold winds of fall and winter. sky. And when air is moving at the surface, it is good
attempts. In contrast, swifts and swallows (and less This unusual stability and predictability stand to look farther skyward, as clouds often give us the
familiar birds like them elsewhere) spend most of Water Versus Air in stark contrast to the behavior of air. Air is almost best indicator of conditions aloft. On sunny days with
their lives in the air, plying the waves of air above and outside our experience. We speak of things vanishing puffy cumulus clouds popping up in the afternoon,
Water is perhaps the most quintessential substance into thin air, and we spend much of each day forget- one can be sure that there is a good deal of vertical
around us just as storm-petrels make their way across of Earth. No single rock type distinguishes Earth as
the oceans of water. And storm-petrels resemble well as does the abundance of water in all three of ting that the air exists. But as soon as we open the movement of air, as it is vertical convective cells of air
swallows more than in their graceful mode of travers- its physical forms: vapor, liquid, and solid. Of these, window in a rushing car, or we cower in the house from lower levels that bring water vapor to the upper
ing their realms: they are both planktivores of sorts. liquid water is what makes ours the “blue planet,” when a powerful thunderstorm with its strong local layers, where it condenses into water droplets and
Swallows grasp small insects from the air and storm- and its properties dominate the conditions for life on winds rolls past, we are reminded that air is viscous clouds. As vertical movement grows stronger, more
petrels grasp small invertebrates from the water sur- Earth. The cycling of its temperatures and densities like water, just less so. One of the wonders of Earth vapor is taken farther faster; and when the solar en-
face. The prey of both birds are plankton, meaning is that air has sufficient viscosity that tremendous ergy being poured into the system is strong enough,

12 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 13

JULIAN HOUGH
Aerial insectivores are adept at catching flying insects.
water vapor can be carried many thousands of feet
into the cumulonimbus clouds that are one mark of
severe thunderstorms. In thunderstorms, the con-
vective cells often engender strong lateral winds at
the ground, feeding the rising air column, and large
numbers of insects can be concentrated and carried
far aloft, where swifts and swallows sometimes ag-
gregate at altitudes, much higher than is their wont,
to feed on concentrated and cold-stunned prey.
The fundamental mismatch in
the ways that insects and birds
adjust their life histories to their
environments has led some to fear
that another sort of mismatch
maybe affecting aerial insectivorous
birds in the Northeast. in water, the high thermal inertia of which helps buf-
Thus, currents in the air can be just as strong as
any currents in water, and we have a great deal to
learn about how currents in less extreme conditions
than thunderstorms may affect the foraging behavior
and ecology of aerial insectivorous birds.
We do know a couple of interesting things, though.
First, those big concentrations of insects in the air as-
sociated with high altitudes in thunderstorms are
major exceptions to one of the known properties
14 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
of air as a habitat for
coursing insectivores:
that available insect
densities drop off steep-
ly with altitude. Thus
it is not too surprising
that most aerial insec-
tivores spend most of
their time foraging in
the first tens of meters
above the Earth. And
within that band, there
appears to be a loose
apportionment of for-
aging space, at least
among North American
swallows: Barn Swal-
lows most often near
the ground, Tree and
Rough-winged at mid-
level, then Bank gener-
ally higher, and Purple
Martins up at the highest levels, often with swifts
and nighthawks. This stratification raises the ques-
tion of what may be taking such high-foraging birds
so high. If food densities are generally much lower at
higher altitudes, are these birds taking larger prey to
compensate for the lower prey densities where they
forage? Do the high fliers have any special sensory or
cognitive skills that allow them to find and capture
larger prey more efficiently?
Air Temperatures Change Rapidly
The other interesting thing about air versus water
is the relative rapidity with which air temperatures
can change, and many of the most rapid changes
come about through the displacement of large masses
of air. Temperatures can drop dramatically overnight
with the arrival of a cold front from the north, and
these changes in air temperature contrast with those
fer lakes and rivers from large daily swings (and of
course water has a hard time moving out of lake ba-
sins the way air can shift over the Earth’s surface!).
Many aerial insects hatch out from aquatic habitats,
and they may thus emerge from water warm enough
to support their eclosion into air that is too cold to al-
low them to fly. Different insects have very different
thermal optima for flight, and aerial insectivores are
subject to dramatic changes in available food from one
day to the next, depending on what groups of adult
insects are present and on the air temperatures on any
given day. Thus it is not
uncommon in a northern
spring for aerial insec-
tivores to go overnight,
with the simple arrival of
a cold front, from a feast
of available insects to a
famine. This rapid alter-
nation in available prey
can have large effects
on breeding productiv-
ity if a cold snap lasts a
couple of days or more,
and the generally high
breeding productivity of
swallows can be slashed
to large-scale failure if
such conditions arise
during the time of chick
development when their
feeding requirements are
highest.
Many insect species have an aquatic lifestage.
The Price Of
Being Warm-Blooded gratory schedules and destinations across the North-
east, but it would not answer why aerial insects might
It is a price of being a warm-blooded animal that
be affected differently than the foliage-bound insects
one’s metabolic requirements remain high no matter
on which the bulk of other migrant birds rely.
what the weather. Insects can “go on ice” when it is
too cold to fly, but birds must continue to feed their
metabolic fires to keep their temperatures high. This
difference between homoeothermic and ectothermic Insects respond more flexibly to
animals helps explain an interesting difference in the changes in weather and climate.
timing of annual cycles of abundance and activity in Vertebrates take longer to adjust.
insects and birds around the northern hemisphere:
insects respond flexibly to changes in weather and
climate, whereas vertebrates take longer to adjust the If aerial and foliage-associated insects respond
settings on their programs of self-regulation. These differently to climate change, one of the first places
slower adjustments can lead to mismatches in breed- to look for an explanation would be in their environ-
ing schedules and food availability, causing birds to ments. Both insects and birds living in these habitats
attempt to breed in spring after peaks in food abun- must cope with different gradients with different
dance have already passed. dynamics, and we are only beginning to understand
This fundamental mismatch in the environmental what some of the key differences might be. We know
adjustments of insects and birds has led some to fear that air, like land and water, is rich in heterogeneity,
that another sort of mismatch may be affecting aerial and the rates at which air’s heterogeneity changes are
insectivorous birds in the Northeast. It may be that much faster than in the other two environs. We are just
insects across the board are responding to warmer beginning to sift through the implications of these dif-
springs and summers in the North by shifting their ferences, and, as we begin to do so, we will no doubt
emergence earlier in the year, thus reducing the avail- gain a much more synthetic understanding of the
ability of aerial insects in late summer and early fall, most continuous and pervasive habitat on Earth.
just when aerial insectivores need high quantities of
food to fuel molt and migration. This mismatch could * * * * * *
explain declines in aerial insectivores of diverse mi-
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 15
 CONNECTICUT’S
Common Nighthawk

AERIAL
INSECTIVORES
Chimney Swift

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Northern Rough-winged
Swallow

Bank Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

16 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 17
Chimney Swifts in Connecticut
Margaret Rubega
Associate Professor, University of Connecticut
Shannon Kearney-McGee
Avian Population Analyst, Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection, Wildlife Division
Tanner Steeves
Research Assistant, School of Public Health, Yale University
I
n the marketplace of what makes a bird attractive
to people, a Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) has
little capital. It isn’t colorful—the bird is a nearly
uniform sooty brown all over. It isn’t melodic—the
vocalizations amount to a kind of monotonous twit-
tering, pleasant enough but any kid with a blade of
grass and two thumbs could “sing” as well. It isn’t
big—it weighs less than a quarter of what your i-
Phone does. It won’t come to your bird feeders, sits
nowhere that you can photograph it, and glues its
nest together with spit.
Yet a little attention will show that Chimney
Swifts are marvelous things. For pure aerobatic
speed and skill in flight, they are exceeded only by
their nearest relatives, the hummingbirds, and they
are much more visible, if you only look up. They
are frequently described as looking like a cigar with
wings, but they are more often mistaken for swal-
lows, from which their unforked tail and scythe-
shaped wings can distinguish them. A Chimney
Swift eats hundreds of insects a day, taken only out
of the air while flying at high speed. If this seems
unimpressive to you, imagine catching airborne
M&Ms, without your hands, on a 35-mile-an-hour
drive-by. They are everywhere in Connecticut where
there are chimneys—which is to say, just about ev-
erywhere. They are arguably more emblematic of
bird life in Connecticut than any other species, even
our official state bird, the American Robin. They not
only live closer to us, although often unnoticed, they
are downright dependent upon us in a way that no
other bird is.
Europeans Might Have Called Them
Tree Swifts
If Europeans had been paying more attention
when they first arrived in North America, they
might have called them “tree swifts,” because the
18 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
birds originally nested inside hollow old-growth
trees. Exquisitely adapted for life in the vertical, they
can’t perch on a horizontal surface but can hang on
an upright one, where their protein-enriched saliva is
used to glue twigs into a shelf-like structure in which
they lay their eggs and tend the resulting chicks. Dur-
ing the settlement of New England, as the trees came
down and the buildings went up, the birds simply be-
gan using the hollow, vertical brick-and-stone struc-
tures newly scattered over the landscape instead of
the disappearing trees. There is some evidence that
their range actually increased, spreading with the
buildings into landscapes previously too unforested
to support them.
Partners in Flight estimates that
there are 15 million Chimney Swifts
in North America but classifies them
as “common species in deep decline”.
If buildings were all it took to build a population
of Chimney Swifts, one might expect them to be as
numerous as us. Partners in Flight estimates, on the
basis of Breeding Bird Surveys, that there are about
15 million Chimney Swifts in North America (all con-
tained in an area east of the Rockies). That is indeed a
lot of birds. Yet Partners in Flight also classifies them
as a “Common Species in Steep Decline”; this des-
ignation indicates birds that are still numerous, but
“whose populations have declined by 50% or more
during the past 40 years,” as measured by Breed-
ing Bird Survey data. To put that in perspective: if
as many humans had gone missing, enough of them
would have disappeared in the last 40 years to empty
New York City and all of New Jersey.
At first glance, those birds appear not to have gone
missing from Connecticut; in fact, tak-
PAUL J. FUSCO / MOUNT VERNON SONGBIRD SANCTUARY
ing into account year to year variation,
the size of Connecticut’s Chimney Swift
population is apparently stable (Figure
2). But since birds are no respecters of
state boundaries, a declining population
anywhere is a message about the health
of populations everywhere. Consequent-
ly, counting about the same number of
birds in the air every year in Connecti-
cut doesn’t demonstrate that the overall
population is healthy. Connecticut might
indeed be very hospitable to Chimney
Swifts; alternatively, it might be a “sink,”
an area where birds die or fail to breed ev-
ery year but the total number of birds re-
mains the same because birds continue to
move in from surrounding areas. We sim-
ply don’t know. In order to find out, we
need to understand how birds are using
the habitat and whether they are breed-
ing successfully. If wildlife managers in
Connecticut want to keep common birds
common, they need to think about why
all those swifts have disappeared, before
they become endangered anywhere.
Are There Fewer Chimneys?
It is very common when bird popula-
tions decline to find that the kind of habi-
tat they like to live in has disappeared too.
There certainly are not fewer buildings
than there were 40 years ago! Of course,
the birds are not nesting in living rooms,
shopping malls, or office towers—they
nest in chimneys. Are there fewer chim-
neys? New construction typically no lon- Chimney Swifts prefer to nest in open-flu, brick chimneys.
ger includes the classic open-flu brick de-
sign; small-diameter pipe vents are far more energy (sometimes called “swift towers”) to replace those
efficient. Even the older style of chimney is not a sure lost to capping and lining, such as the tower recently
bet. A chimney that has been capped and screened completed at Stamford’s Cove Island Sanctuary. The
off, or lined with a metal flue-duct, is still a chimney, University of Connecticut’s Ornithology Research
but it is no longer Chimney Swift habitat. Group, with support from the Department of Energy
All over North America, avian conservation or- and Environmental Protection, set out four years ago
ganizations and wildlife agencies concerned with to develop a swift tower design which was easier and
Chimney Swift population declines have naturally less expensive to build than the design widely used
focused on the availability of chimneys. For instance, by sanctuaries. We aimed to make a swift tower that
Rua Mordecai, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bi- could be built rapidly by anyone with hand tools and
ologist monitoring swifts in North Carolina, has that was low-maintenance, moveable, and attractive
documented that many chimneys formerly occupied to swifts. We envisioned Boy Scout troops across the
by swifts have been lost to capping. There is wide- land, replacing habitat for swifts the same way they
spread interest in building freestanding chimneys did for bluebirds. We built 10 towers of a design that
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 19

allowed us to build all of them in one day, for less
than $150 each, and move them in a pickup truck
to four locations in Storrs and Willimantic. Then we
watched, and waited for the Chimney Swift breeding
season to begin.
The birds inspected the towers but didn’t nest in
any of them. Since swifts are famously attached to the
sites they already occupy, maybe they didn’t find the
towers until it was too late in the season to start nests
in them. A second season, in both the same and ad-
20 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
ditional locations, had the same
result: no takers.
One explanation for this re-
sult is that for some reason the
towers we built are unattract-
ive to swifts. Maybe they were
insufficiently chimney-like.
Maybe they were in the wrong
places: does it matter if they
are near grassland, or trees, or
water? In an attempt to find
out what the “right” places are,
UConn researchers surveyed the
state, counting Chimney Swifts
across a wide variety of habi-
tats: urban, rural, near water, far
from water, forested, unforested.
DEEP biologists, along with an
army of volunteers, also counted
chimneys, recording how many
were closed and how many were
open, and gathered data on the
characteristics of chimneys that
swifts were nesting in, in order
to compare it to data on chim-
neys they didn’t occupy. We also
conducted an email survey of
National Audubon sanctuaries
and similar organizations in six
states and in Canada, collecting
information on how many had
built swift towers, what their
towers were like, what the habi-
tat around them was like, and
how many of them had been
nested in.
What did we find out? We
found out that many of the as-
sumptions we started with were
probably wrong. To date, we
have been unable to demonstrate
strong relationships between the
presence of Chimney Swifts and
any particular habitat around the chimneys. More
surprisingly, we also found no evidence that there
were too few chimneys; in Connecticut, at least, there
are many uncapped, unlined, empty chimneys that
are indistinguishable from those that swifts are nest-
ing in. Similarly, of the 41 swift towers built by re-
sponders to our email study, only 17—slightly less
than half—have ever been known to be occupied.
Finally, our colleagues at agencies and universi-
ties in Canada have also documented many empty
Swap out photo with chimney photo from Miley/Rubega
chimneys, and low
adoption rates at
Chimney Swift tow-
ers that were built
to provide habitat
for the birds. Taken
all together, these
results suggest that
whatever is caus-
ing the decline in
the Chimney Swift
population, it isn’t a
uniform shortage of
chimneys to nest in.
Enough
Chimneys But
Still Declining
This is good
news, right? There
are enough chim-
neys! Well, yes—ex-
cept that the North
American popula-
tion of Chimney Chimney Swifts are well adapted to nesting in open, vrtical chimneys.
Swifts is still declin-
ing, and whatever the problem is, it is unlikely to be ing now, and explains why, if you have swifts in your
fixed by something we can build and put out in the chimney, a DEEP biologist may call you up and ask if
yard. That is unwelcome news, because we would they can collect droppings from your house!
prefer to have a problem we can do something about, DDT has long been banned in the U.S., but its use is
and because we still don’t know what the problem is. not banned in South America, where Chimney Swifts
winter. We do not know exactly where they spend
the winter and thus have no way of knowing if the
There is a great deal more to be habitat there is being destroyed. We don’t know how
many birds survive the trip south and back again ev-
learned about Chimney Swifts.
ery year; even data about how many new Chimney
Swifts fledge every year right here in Connecticut is
The other causes of the population decline are both hard to come by, because chicks are hidden in dark,
harder to investigate and likely to be harder to solve. inaccessible chimneys and look virtually identical
Joe Nocera and a group of colleagues at the Ontario to adults once they begin flying. UConn and DEEP
Ministry of Natural Resources recently published the researchers are continually baffled in their efforts to
results of a study of a 48-year-old deposit of Chim- simply quantify annual survival and productivity in
ney Swift droppings in a roost chimney. The research- Connecticut because of the dynamic and unpredict-
ers treated the guano pile as an archeologist would, able behaviors of large numbers of birds in roosting
taking samples at various depths down through the chimneys.
pile, with deeper samples representing what the birds In short, there is a great deal more to learn about
were eating farther back in time. Analysis of the layers Chimney Swifts. Their aerial lifestyle and inaccessible
showed that in the early 1950s, the birds underwent a nest sites present a challenge to standard means of
steep increase in the amount of DDT in their diets; at studying birds, but this is a species worth watching.
the same time the number of Coleopterans (beetles) The next time you hear twittering . . . look up.
in their diets decreased and the number of Hemip-
tera (true bugs) increased. This shift in diet points out * * * * * *
the importance of finding out what the birds are eat-
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 21
The Purple Martin, A Colonial Cavity Nester

A Classic Aerialist Ecologically, a most significant

trait of the Purple Martin is that it is
a cavity nester with a tendency for
colonial nesting. It does not create its
John Tautin own cavities, however, and in prehis-
Executive Director, Purple Martin Conservation Association toric times it would have nested pri-
marily in woodpecker holes in dead
trees around beaver ponds, lakes,
and other open areas, and sometimes

PAUL J. FUSCO
he familiar and in cliff cavities. Thus it would have
popular Purple had a patchy and limited distribution
Martin (Progne in the primal, heavily forested land-
subis) is North Amer- scape of pre-colonial Connecticut.
ica’s largest member Today the Purple Martin still fre-
of the swallow fam- quents open landscapes such as farm-
ily. In the spring and lands, suburbs, parks, and shorelines
summer it breeds of water bodies, but it no longer nests
across the continent, in natural cavities in Connecticut and
but it is most com- all other areas east of the Rocky Moun-
mon in the states tains. Rather, it depends entirely on
and provinces east people, called Purple Martin “land-
of the Rocky Moun- lords,” to provide it nesting cavities in
tains and south of the form of the familiar apartment-type
the coniferous forest birdhouses or clusters of natural or ar-
regions of Canada. tificial gourds that one sees around the
Highest densities oc- countryside. For their efforts, success-
cur in the southeast- ful landlords enjoy constant action and
ern U.S. In Connecti- song at their sites, and they have the
cut, Purple Martins satisfaction of contributing to the spe-
can be found in most cies’ well-being.
counties, but they
are most often found Purple Martins Are
along the coast and Purple Martins favor open spaces near water. Threatened In Connecticut American ornithologist and artist John James Audu-
inlets of Long Island The Purple Martin’s shift from natural to artificial bon also wrote about them nesting in association with
Sound, reflecting their affinity for open spaces mosquitoes. Rather, they feed higher off the ground nesting cavities apparently started before the first Eu- humans, noting that “Almost every country tavern
and water. where they take larger insects like flies, bees, beetles, has a Martin box on the upper part of its signboard;
ropean colonists arrived in North America. In his clas-
Purple Martins typically nest once during the sea- butterflies, and surprising numbers of dragonflies. sic 1810 work on American ornithology, Alexander and I have observed that the handsomer the box, the
son, laying four to seven eggs. The young hatch in Prior to the cyclical decline of insects in the fall, better does the inn generally prove to be.” Later in
Wilson reported that Native Americans of the South-
about 16 days. They remain in the nest being fed by Purple Martins migrate south to warmer climes east provided hollowed gourds as nesting sites. In the the 19th century, the introduction of the European
their parents for 26-32 days. After fledging, thousands where insects remain available. Recent studies us- same account, he quoted a correspondent from Penn- Starling and House Sparrow, each an aggressive com-
of them spend a few weeks gathering each evening ing innovative tracking devices called geo-locators sylvania who wrote about establishing Purple Martin petitor for natural nesting cavities, accelerated Purple
at communal roosts. They sleep at night in the roosts, have shown that most of them leave North America housing at his Harrisburg area farm in 1800. The great Martins’ shift to human-supplied housing.
leaving at dawn to go about the surrounding country- around Labor Day, migrate slowly through Mexico The Purple Martin’s dependency on this kind of
side to feed and loaf during the day. The evening gath- and Central America, and arrive at their Brazilian housing is now part of its ecology, and is fundamental
ering at a roost is leisurely, but the dawn departure wintering grounds by early October. Brazil’s Ama- Regardless of the reasons for to both its decline and restoration. Continent-wide,
is sudden and often can be detected by local Doppler zon rain forest appears to be a significant winter- declines, recruiting more people to its population has been stable for the last 50 years, ac-
radar used to track weather phenomena. ing area. In late winter, they begin migrating back cording to results from the scientifically sound Breed-
Purple Martins are obligate aerial insectivores, to North America, returning as early as January to
provide high-quality, well-managed
ing Bird Survey conducted annually by the U.S. Geo-
meaning they feed only on flying insects. Studies of Florida. They arrive back in Connecticut and the rest housing is key to restoring Purple logical Survey. However, in the states and provinces
their food habits have shown that, contrary to popular of New England in early April, having made a re- Martin populations. surrounding the Great Lakes and on into New Eng-
opinion, they do not consume prodigious amounts of markable round trip of 10,000 miles. land, populations have declined substantially. Con-

22 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 23

Well-managed housing may be the key to restoring Purple Martin populatoins.
necticut officially lists the Purple Martin as a “Threat-
ened” species, meaning that, without intervention, it
is likely to become an endangered species within the
foreseeable future throughout all or a significant por-
tion of its range within the state.
Many reasons have been postulated for these
population declines. Adverse weather is often men-
tioned. Indeed, as very early spring migrants and
obligate aerial insectivores, Purple Martins are vul-
nerable to periods of cold, rainy weather that limit
insect activity. Local die-offs have occurred owing to
For more information on Purple
Martins in general and how you can
help them by becoming a member
of a national organization, visit
the Purple Martin Conservation
Association’s website at www.
purplemartin.org.
24 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
PAUL J. FUSCO
acute weather-related food shortages, but long-term
studies of Purple Martin productivity do not suggest
that food shortage, weather related or otherwise, is
a widespread problem. Competition for nest cavi-
ties from the more aggressive European Starling and
House Sparrow, disease, predation, and the rigors of
migration—factors that many migratory birds face—
also cause some Martin mortality. However, none of
these factors has been shown conclusively to be the
cause of population declines. Nor is loss of habitat the
likely cause. Connecticut’s Purple Martins make long
distance migrations to and from their Brazilian win-
tering grounds, but migratory and wintering habitats
are not known to be limiting; and, at the landscape
level in Connecticut; their favored open habitats re-
main abundant.
While the absolute reasons for the population de-
clines have not been conclusively determined, loss of
human-supplied housing is a likely factor. Although
Purple Martins tolerate suburban and even urban
environments, they are more common in rural en-
vironments where farmers, retirees, and other rural
homebodies seem to have
more interest, time, and
wherewithal to care for
them than suburbanites
do. Unfortunately, family
farms and rural lifestyles
in New England are in de-
cline, and each succeeding
generation of people has
less contact with the land.
These societal changes
have produced a clas-
sic vicious cycle wherein
fewer people are produc-
ing fewer Purple Martins,
resulting in still fewer
people coming to know,
appreciate, and in turn
care for them. Then, as in-
dividual colonies decline,
fewer birds are available
to disperse and establish
new colonies. Without a Milan Bull, Marlo Thomas, and Phil Donahue banding young Martins at Phil’s colony in Westport.
concerted effort to main-
tain them, over the next 20 years New England will ing production, conducting banding-based research,
likely lose many of its remaining colonies, especially producing educational materials, and publicizing the
those that are isolated from others. restoration effort.
You can help this effort in Connecticut by report-
Well-Managed Housing Is Key ing an existing colony or establishing a new one. If
Regardless of the reasons for declines, recruiting
more people to provide high-quality, well-managed To get a feel for the joys of being
housing is key to restoring Purple Martin popula-
tions. Best management practices are well defined,
a Purple Martin landlord, visit
and the birds respond positively to them. Restoration the live website of Phil Donahue’s
thus is largely a matter of engaging the general pub- Connecticut colony at http://
lic and the conservation community, educating them
about this species, and encouraging people to become
www.gazebophil.com/
landlords.
As in most community endeavors, leadership your property is not suitable, consider becoming the
is vital to this restoration. Its importance has been steward of an existing or new colony at a public lo-
proved in other parts of North America, notably in cation. Across North America, “wannabe” landlords
British Columbia and Minnesota, where under good are working with schools, nature centers, parks, and
leadership community-based working groups are businesses to establish colonies at locations where the
making a difference for these birds and the people public can enjoy these unique birds and hopefully,
who cherish them. Fortunately for Connecticut, and in turn, want to care for them. Your help is needed.
indeed all of New England, the Connecticut Depart- More than any other species, Purple Martins depend
ment of Energy and Environmental Protection has on people. Working together, all of us can assure that
emerged as a Purple Martin champion. DEEP, along they remain an abundant and appreciated part of
with Connecticut Audubon, Menunkatuck Audubon Connecticut’s wildlife heritage.
Society, and numerous landlords around the state are
locating, mapping, and assessing colonies, experi- * * * * * *
menting with techniques to expand them, monitor-
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 25
Bulbat in the Sky:

DAN ADAMSKI
The Legacy of a Loser?
Wayne R. Petersen
Director of Important Bird Areas, Massachusetts Audubon Society

JULIAN HOUGH
aving grown
up in a sub-
urb west of
Boston, Massachu-
setts, I have fond
recollections of every
summer on favor-
able nights watch-
ing the erratic aerial
gyrations of groups
of southward bound
Common Night-
hawks (Chordeiles mi-
nor) passing over my
house at dusk. Bound
for wintering areas
ranging from Ven- Nighthawks lay their eggs on open, gravel or sandy areas such as gravel rooftops.
ezuela to northern
Argentina, Common are characteristically uttered at night. During the gravelly, or burned-over ground. With the prolifera-
Nighthawks—or breeding season Common Nighthawks exhibit spec- tion of flat, gravel-topped roofs on suburban and city
“Bullbats” as they are tacular aerial displays, including steep dives termi- buildings throughout much of the 20th century, night-
sometimes known— nated by dramatic upward swoops that produce dis- hawks readily took to utilizing these manmade habi-
breed throughout tinctive “booming” sounds as air passes through their tats as an alternative to ground nesting. In the wake
most of North and outer wing feathers. Their plumage—a combination of this urban colonization the nasal peent-ing at dusk
Central America. De- Common Nighthawks are in serious decline throughout the northeast.They are not raptors. of gray, brown, and buff often with striking splashes became a familiar sound to attentive city dwellers.
spite the regularity of white in the wings or tail—renders them practi- Unfortunately, however, today the sight and sound
with which birders are still able to witness the crepus- group containing 93 species worldwide (except Ant- cally invisible when they are resting on the ground or of nighthawks hawking insects in front of bright city
cular southward migration of this somewhat mysteri- arctica) and nine species regularly occurring in North perched longitudinally on tree branches the way they lights such as those at Boston’s venerable Fenway
ous species during the waning days of August and America. Caprimulgids tend to be rather mysterious, typically do. The large eyes of most nightjars enhance Park and other well-illuminated venues have become
early September, these late summer flights are not largely nocturnal species with short legs and weak their nocturnal visual acuity and are highly reflective increasingly rare.
what they were in my youth. In many regions today, feet that are ill-equipped for the traditional perching of light when illuminated at night—an easy way to Historically a common breeding bird throughout
conditions are apparently less favorable for this spe- behavior associated with passerine and other tree- spot them if they happen to be sitting on the road in most of New England, the Common Nighthawk is
cies than they were even half a century ago. perching species. They possess tiny beaks backed by front of an automobile. today an increasingly rare and local nesting species
What has happened to this widespread and for- an expansive mouth opening (i.e., gape), which is in many parts of the region. This decline appears to
merly more common species? While the answer is not uniquely designed for capturing aerial insects on the No Nest Building be stronger in Canada than in the United States, and
entirely clear, there are several compelling hypoth- wing. Many species actually possess long, filamen- Common Nighthawks begin arriving in New Eng- stronger in eastern North America than in the West.
eses. But before addressing the question more fully, tous feathers called rictal bristles around the mouth land from their South American wintering areas in In Canada, Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data reflect a
let us consider what we do know about nighthawks. opening, which help direct food into the open mouth mid-to-late May, with courtship and nesting ordinar- long-term decline of 4.2% per year from 1968 to 2005.
First, they are not raptors. Although they have falcon- as well as also possibly serving a sensory function ily beginning sometime thereafter and the egg-laying In the period from 1995 to 2005 this decline rose to
shaped wings and fairly long tails like certain hawk similar to the whiskers on a cat. period ranging from late May until early July. Night- 6.6% per year. This corresponds to a 49.5% decrease
species, the Common Nighthawk is actually a mem- Many caprimulgids (e.g., Eastern Whip-poor-will) in the estimated population! Currently the Common
hawks do not construct a nest but simply place their
ber of the Order Caprimulgiformes—a cosmopolitan are called “nightjars” because their loud vocalizations two heavily speckled eggs on relatively open sandy, Nighthawk is listed as threatened by the Commit-

26 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 27
tee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada
(COSEWIC).
Endangered In Connecticut
Closer to home, the nighthawk is registered as en-
dangered in New Hampshire and Connecticut, and is
listed as a species of concern in Rhode Island. Surveys
conducted by New Hampshire Audubon in the early
1990s and in 2001-2002 demonstrated the disappear-
ance of nighthawks from nine of 13 areas surveyed
during both periods, and the species also became
notably less common in Concord—once a nesting
stronghold for nighthawks in New Hampshire. Data
from the Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas I (BBA I)
confirmed the nesting of Common Nighthawks in 13
atlas blocks statewide (1974-79), with all but one of the
confirmations on urban rooftops. BBA II (2007-2011)
revealed zero Bay State confirmations. In Connecticut
a dedicated effort to locate breeding Common Night-
hawks during the period 2005-2007 was unable to
confirm the presence of a single nesting pair.
It seems likely, however, that the
precipitous decline in breeding
nighthawks in eastern North
America has been caused by
something more than than a
shortage of urban nest sites.
As gravel roofs gave way to the more efficient rub-
ber and vinyl, in many areas nighthawks abandoned
rooftop nesting. It seems likely, however, that the pre-
cipitous decline in breeding nighthawks in eastern
North America has been caused by something more
than than a shortage of urban nest sites. The most
disturbing hypothesis is that the quantity of flying
insects—the “aerial plankton” upon which night-
hawks depend for food—may be diminishing. The
documented spectrum of insects involved in such
arthropod declines includes everything from bees
and wasps to butterflies and moths. Because many
bat species are analogous to Common Nighthawks
in their aerial foraging strategy, concern is also being
raised over their future status as well. Could it be that
the steady warming of our climate is tipping the ar-
thropod scale in ways that are incompatible with aer-
ial predators that depend upon them for sustenance?
Entomologists have suggested that a number of
28 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
factors could be adversely affecting aerial insect pop-
ulations. Excessive light pollution might be disrupt-
Master Aerial Insectivores: Bats
ing their nocturnal aerial activity, as might the altera-
Jenny Dickson
tion of wetlands that brings about changes in pH (i.e.,
acidification). Or, extreme temperature modulations Supervising Wildlife Biologist, Connecticut Department of Energy
resulting from fluctuations in annual weather pat- and Environmental Protection
terns could be affecting insect emergence times. For
species like the Common Nighthawk, whose long-
distance migration strategy has evolved concurrently
W
with a seasonally reliable abundance of insects, it may hen we consider
JULIAN HOUGH
not take much to disrupt their annual cycle or, worse, the important
stress their population by limiting their food resourc- ecological role
es. Add to these concerns the specter of exposure to aerial insectivores play in
pernicious pesticides, some of which continue to be our environment, it is im-
freely applied in many regions where nighthawks portant to include a group
and other aerial-feeding species spend the winter, of truly master aerialists,
and the species could be reaching a tipping point. bats. As a group, bats are
Thus, while it is still occasionally possible to see the single largest preda-
hundreds of migrating nighthawks on favorable eve- tor of night-flying insects.
nings in late summer, especially along the Connecti- They provide tremendous
cut River Valley and at other elevated observation nightly insect control ser-
sites with expansive north-facing views, unquestion- vices that have significant
ably the numbers tallied during fall migration are not ecological—and econom-
what they once were. For example, at a long-standing ic—impacts.
and systematically monitored site near Northamp- A foraging Little Brown
ton, Massachusetts, cumulative Common Nighthawk Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
fall migration totals for the period 1978-96 averaged will consume more than
slightly over 3900 per year. In the period 1997-2005 the half its body weight ev-
yearly average dropped to a little over 1800. While the ery day, with nursing fe-
precise reasons for the decline of the Common Night- males eating considerably
hawk are still unclear, the question remains whether more than their own body Moths make up more than half of the diet of a Red Bat which may travel several miles nightly
the familiar “Bullbat” might be gradually losing the weight. The slightly larger to reach favored feeding areas. During migration, Red Bats may be seen flying during daylight
hours.
battle for long-term survival. Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus
fuscus) can eat eight pounds of insects a year. If you a wide variety of insects, they may eat only two or
* * * * * * expand these figures to include all of the individual three kinds of insects at a time and will take advan-
bats in a given colony, all of the bat colonies state- tage of the feeding success possible when swarms
wide, and all eight species of bats found in Con- of insects are encountered. Much like some of their
necticut, the insect control benefits provided by bats avian counterparts, bats will target large insect
are phenomenal. The value of this insect control to flights that occur at various times of the year. For
agriculture in the United States is estimated at $22.9 example, Big Brown Bats, just like Common Night-
billion per year. hawks, will readily take advantage of caddisfly
The economic value of bats does not stop there. hatches. Whether it is an exploding population of
Data from the Massachusetts Bats also provide insect control services for for- Corn Borer Moths or normal June Bug activity, the
Breeding Bird Atlas I (BBA I) est ecosystems. These benefits are much harder to more insect control can be accomplished naturally
confirmed the nesting of Common quantify, as little data exist on the economics of bat- by bats, the less farmers and others will resort to
related insect control in forests. But the ripple effects controlling them with chemicals. Thus fewer pes-
Nighthawks in 13 atlas blocks are extensive, ranging from timber products to nurs- ticides are applied to the environment or to crops
statewide (1974-79), with all but ery stock to maple syrup operations to recreation destined for human consumption.
one of the confirmations on urban and more.
The insect consumption of bats provides equally Bats Are Highly Variable
rooftops. BBA II (2007-2011) revealed important ecological benefits, such as the control of
The mechanics behind this aerial insectivory
zero Bay State confirmations. insect population explosions. While bats consume are anything but simple. Again, as with their avian
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 29

Little Brown Bats love to eat moths and midges but also dine on gnats, mosquitoes, flies, and small beetles.
counterparts, the size and shape of each bat species
playing important roles in how and where it catch-
es insects. Wing aspect ratios (wing area to wing
breadth) and wing loading (wing area to body mass)
are key to what habitats and what part of the air col-
umn bats forage in and to what kinds of insects they
eat. Bats that glean insects or forage very close to
vegetation have low aspect and wing loading ratios;
they are maneuverable but do not fly very fast. Bats
that feed high above the vegetation have high aspect
and wing loading ratios and are swift fliers. Most
of Connecticut’s bats fall somewhere between these
two extremes. All our bats practice aerial hawking,
catching insects in flight either with their mouths
or by using their wing or tail membranes to “catch”
the insects and guide them to their mouths. The tiny
Tri-colored Bat (formerly known as the Eastern Pip-
istrelle; Perimyotis subflavus), with a moderate wing
aspect ratio and low wing loading, is very maneuver-
able and able to exploit foraging areas cluttered with
vegetation, making it a much more opportunistic
feeder. In contrast, the Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus;
high aspect ratio and high wing loading) often flies
swiftly at or above the treetops in its pursuit of prey.
For most of our bat species, a lot of foraging is
done above rather than below the forest canopy. Pre-
30 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
flies, gnats, mosqui-
PAUL J. FUSCO / CT DEEP WILDLIFE
JULIAN HOUGH
toes, flying ants, and
smaller beetles. The
tree-roosting Red Bat
(Lasiurus borealis) is
primarily a moth eat-
er (65%) but also en-
joys beetles and flying
ants. In general, larg-
er bats feed on larger
insects.
Aerial insectivory
is energetically de-
manding. Bat feeding
activity is geared to-
ward making forag-
ing attempts as bio-
energetically efficient
as possible. Bats most
actively feed between
sunset and midnight.
They forage longer on
dry, warm evenings
Wind energy can have negative impacts on bats. Red, Hoary, and Silver-haired Bats -all species of
than on cold, wet ones. special concern in Connecticut- are among the most at risk.
On bright moonlit
nights when they are more readily bat populations. North America is
ferred foraging habitats are often riparian forest ar-
visible to predators, bats stick to areas Bats of Connecticut: home to 45 bat species, 11 of which
with more tree cover and avoid wide have been documented in mortality
eas, forest edges and gaps, or in the case of the Hoary Little Brown Bat
open areas. Not surprisingly, these searches at wind energy facilities.
and Silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans), in Big Brown Bat
conditions are also when night-flying- The vast majority of these bats are
clear cuts. Bats are remarkably loyal to their favorite
foraging sites, often returning to the same sites night
insect activity is typically greatest. Un- Northern Long-eared Bat migratory tree-roosting bats: the
like most of Connecticut’s other bats, Eastern Red Bat, the Hoary Bat, and
after night and year after year. They may travel long Eastern Pipistrelle
the Hoary Bat may come out to forage the Silver-haired Bat. All three of
distances to reach these favored spots. In a habitat use Silver-haired Bat
again closer to dawn, switching from these bats are already listed as Con-
study of Hoary Bats in Connecticut, it was common
a diet of moths and beetles in the eve- Hoary Bat necticut species of special concern
for individual bats to travel seven to ten miles every
ning to dragonflies near dawn. On Red Bat owing to long-term population de-
night to reach a favored foraging area.
rare occasions bats may forage during clines and habitat loss. In addition,
While bats will take advantage of the insect Indiana Bat
the day, switching to daytime-active four more of Connecticut’s eight bat
abundance created by thermal inversions along
insects such as butterflies and bees, species are known to be negatively
ridgelines, they do not select their foraging area pri-
but this behavior is not typical. impacted by wind turbines. These include the Little
marily on temperature, but rather on occurrence of
Brown Bat, the Northern Long-eared Bat (Myotis sep-
preferred prey items. Most of their prey comprises
30 to 40 different types of insects, with certain orders
Serious Conservation Concerns tentrionalis), the Tri-colored Bat, and the Big Brown
of insects being favored by different bat species. There are some serious conservation concerns fac- Bat. The state and federally endangered Indiana Bat
Diet analysis for three bats found in Connecticut ing these master aerialists and thus the ecosystems (Myotis sodalis) is believed to be at risk from wind tur-
clearly illustrates these preferences. Big Brown Bats they help maintain. Increased urbanization results bines, but mortality in this species has not been docu-
love beetles—85% of their diet will include beetles in habitat loss for both roosting and foraging areas. mented to date.
Perhaps more importantly, it often results in reduced Both local resident bats and migrating bats have
when they are available. In periods like early spring
richness of plant and insect species, which in turn been killed by turbines. Bats spend a lot of their time
when their favorite food is scarce, they will rely on
limits the diversity and nutritional value of the spe- foraging and flying at the heights where turbine
moths, true flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and midges. In
cies available for bats to feed on. blades operate, often 29 meters to 111 meters above
contrast, Little Brown Bats love moths and midg-
es, with 86% of their diet being divided between Wind power—one of the fastest growing forms ground level. Bat mortality is often highest when
these two families. Other diet staples include true of sustainable energy—has significant impacts on wind speeds are low, which is also when aerial in-
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 31
PAUL J. FUSCO / CT DEEP WILDLIFE

ity in the populations of

Recommendations
Connecticut’s cave bats:
Northern Long-eared, Little

Actions and
Brown, Tri-colored, Indiana,
and Big Brown. For species
such as the Northern Long-
eared and Little Brown bat,
once considered common in
all areas of Connecticut, the
Recommendations
mortality rates in the North-
east have approached 95 Milan G. Bull
to100 percent and have trig- Senior Director of Science and Conservation
gered evaluation for listing
under state and federal En- Connecticut Audubon Society
dangered Species Acts.
The combined impacts

PAUL J. FUSCO
T
of turbine-related mortality
and white-nose syndrome he fact that DDT is harmful to
have placed populations of wildlife, particularly to birds,
once common bat species at the high end of the food
under severe pressure. Giv- chain wasn’t obvious to the public
en the tremendous benefits or accepted by producers and farm-
provided by these nocturnal ers until Rachel Carson’s Silent
White-nose Syndrome has decimated bat populations in the eastern U.S. and Canada. In aerial insectivores, finding Spring brought new research to the
some areas, mortality rates for certain species are approaching 100%. public’s attention. In the case of the
ways to reduce or eliminate
these threats is a critical conservation challenge. decline of our aerial insectivores,
sects are most active. It is not just a problem found
the reasons are less clear and may
here; extensive turbine-related bat mortality has been For a citation list please see: www.ctaudubon.org be the result of a combination of fac-
reported worldwide. Current projections suggest
tors. Consequently, more research
that by 2020 the installed wind energy capacity in the * * * * * * is needed, and we recommend in-
United States will provide five percent of electrical
creasing our research effort. It may
generation nationwide. Pro-

PAUL J. FUSCO
be years, however, before this work
jecting the cumulative impacts
is completed. Meanwhile, the com-
of wind energy on bats in the
plexity of the problem and the cur- More research is needed to determine why birds like this Willow Flycatcher are
mid-Atlantic region, Profes- declining.
rent lack of data need not lead us
sor Kunz of Boston University
to delay those actions that seem certain to move us understood; therefore there is a real need for con-
and his colleagues calculated
in the right direction. It is important to take some of centrated research on this topic. Jason Chapman’s
the fatalities of Hoary Bats in
those steps now. pioneering studies in Britain and the recent work at
2020 could range from 9,500 to
As for research, the authors in this year’s report Cornell, Boston University, Bird Studies Canada, and
32,000, Red Bats from 11,500 to
identify a number of possible reasons for the decline other institutions are just beginning to uncover the
38,000, and Silver-haired Bats
of aerial insectivores both as a group and in some in- dynamics of this invisible habitat and how it may be
from 1,500 to 6,000, depending
stances as individual species: affecting obligate species of all sorts. Clearly, there is
on the model used. For species
such as the Red Bat that are • Reduced availability of artificial nesting sites a growing interest in this topic and one that we need
(barns, open chimneys, gravel roof tops) to encourage and support. The fifth North American
already showing range-wide
Ornithological Conference, held this summer at the
population declines, it is un- • Loss of open-country foraging habitat
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, was at-
likely they could sustain these • Changes in insect availability tended by almost 1500 participants from 24 countries.
cumulative fatality rates.
• Exposure to environmental contaminants Among the meetings and working group sessions be-
White-nose syndrome
(WNS), a fungal disease re- • Reduced availability of calcium, a consequence fore, during, and after the conference was a session
of acid rain on aerial insectivore conservation—one of the first in-
sponsible for the death of over
• Changes in wintering area habitat ternational conference workshops to be held on this
five million bats since 2006, A single Big Brown Bat can eat 8lbs of insects in a year. Add in other members of a colony,
important issue.
has caused dramatic mortal- and the yearly insect control benefits are enormous.
Aerial ecology and the aerial biomass are poorly But because the results from all this research will

32 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 33
take time, we need to ask what shorter-term

JULIAN HOUGH
actions can be taken now in order to begin
to reverse the decline of our aerial insecti-
vores. Given this background, the Connect-
icut Audubon Society makes the following
recommendations:
Assess the state of aerial habitat under-
standing and research as well as species-
specific management through meetings
with DEEP, academic institutions, and con-
servation organizations.
Support and encourage aeroecology re-
search by exploring multiple approaches,
including workshops and conferences and
discussions with appropriate agencies.
Work with other non-profit organiza-
tions and members of the General Assem-
bly to pass a pesticide bill that reduces the
exposure of both children and wildlife to Tree Swallows may be exposed to harmful pesticides.
harmful pesticides.
Connecticut Audubon Society will reach out to four tion partners and regulatory agencies to act on these
to six local organizations in Connecticut to explore the recommendations and create a better conservation
possibility of, and provide guidance for, the erection future for our aerial insectivores.
and maintaining of Purple Martin nest sites.
We look forward to working with our conserva- * * * * * *

PAUL J. FUSCO

34 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013 CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013
CONNECTICUT STATE OF THE BIRDS 2013