Wildlife

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Forest Birds

The population trend of songbird species that typically inhabit mature forests has increased over the last 35 years while the population trend of songbird species that typically inhabit forests that are young, generally less than 20 years old, or dominated by shrubby vegetation, sometimes known as "shrublands", has declined over the last 35 years.

As the amount of young forest and shrubland habitat has declined in Connecticut, so have the wildlife species that depend on it. However, the trend for both songbird species groups have generally declined since 2004. Most of the mature-forest bird species are affected greatly by forest fragmentation. Predators, invasive species, deer overpopulation, human activities, and other intrusions into the forests can cause nesting success to falter. The true forest birds, those that are not adapted to disturbed roadside or suburban habitat, will succeed in the long term only in forests that are not fragmented. 

Historic data indicate that the composition of Connecticut's songbird population is changing. Over the last 35 years, the trend for songbirds that prefer warmer climates has been increasing, while the trend for cold-adapted songbird species has been declining, based on the CEQ index. The CEQ index is used to assess the presence and abundance of a total of eighteen warm-climate adapted and cold-climate adapted songbird species.⁶²

Goal: The goal for a variety of landbird species identified in the Partners in Flight Landbird Conservation Plan 2016 is to prevent further decline, stabilize populations in the short-term, and then reclaim a portion of their populations within 30 years. 

_{Technical Notes: *The Council calculates index values (using advice from statistics experts) to show the combined population trends of certain mature forest birds and certain bird species that typically inhabit forests that are young or dominated by shrubby vegetation. Survey data were not available for 2020.}

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⁶² _{USGS, Eastern Ecological Science Center, North American Breeding Bird Survey, accessed 10-20-2023; www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/.}