The State of the Birds at Sheep Pasture

The Massachusetts Audubon Society recently released its extremely important State of the Bird Report complete with an extraordinarily detailed website. The report includes 275 species of birds that can be seen in Massachusetts. It doesn't include vagrants like the Greater White Fronted Goose, but almost any bird that lives here year round, breeds here, or passes through on migration is included. What makes the report exciting is its use of scientific evidence. For decades dedicated birders have conducted annual breeding bird surveys (for 55 years) and Christmas bird counts (since 1900). In addition Mass. Audubon has created two breeding bird atlases one in the 1970s and one just nearing completion. This atlas divides the state into over 1,000 equal size blocks each of which is observed for twenty hours during breeding season for nests or singing males. A block gets a check if a single observation points to a species breeding there. The breeding bird surveys are conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Geologic Service. There a specific route 24.5 mile route is driven with specific stops every half mile along the route. The observer listens and records the number of birds they see or hear in three minutes at each stop.

The Breeding Bird Atlas tells you if one bird is in a certain block. The surveys, on the other hand, give you how many birds were in a spot at a specific time. Used together with the Christmas bird count which tells you what birds are wintering in the state, these data sets can tell you a lot about how well a bird is doing here. The report is alarming because many familiar birds seem to be getting into trouble.

Most of us are not the dedicated type of birder who is going to go on a whale watch to check out ocean going birds. I've done this with dedicated ornithologists and while I've seen parasitic jaegers, kittiwakes, and gannets, watching the whales wins out ever time. What's happening here in Easton? What about the birds everyone knows? Well,  I'm working on it. There are 213 birds that have been identified in Easton by competent birders. A few are so rare they don't show up on the Audubon list of 275. That's a lot of birds so I started with the rather frustrating list developed at Sheep Pasture. Despite the fact that Sheep Pasture is a birders paradise, few official records have been keep until the last few years. Today, we have a list of 85 birds that have been found at Sheep Pasture in the last decade. There are probably many more small birds that have gone unnoticed so far, but lets work with the 85.

The Audubon Society made recommendations based on their analysis of the data. Birds in the "No Action-Strong Increase," "No Present Action-Likely Increase," and "Monitor to Ensure Stability" categories I'll consider relatively safe for the moment. That's 50 of the 85 with four migrant birds lacking any recommendations. Thirty-one birds fall into the category "Conservation Action Urgent"or "Continued Action and Monitoring Needed." That's 35% of the birds at Sheep Pasture in need of help. Five birds fall into the urgent category. For older folks, the most familiar of these five birds is the Northern Bobwhite. This little quail's call used to be heard quite often in Massachusetts in my youth, but not anymore. Many familiar birds could use help including the Baltimore Oriole, Phoebe, Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Tree Swallow, and Wood Thrush. Some birds in need like the pestiferous House Sparrow and the parasitic Cowbird are unlikely to win friends, but we also need to remember that some common birds that didn't make the top two need categories like the Blue Jay are also in decline. Some birds in decline state-wide seem to be doing well at Sheep Pasture. One are Tree Swallows who benefit from the boxes put up for Bluebirds and good habitat.


What is causing this decline and what can we do about it? There is no simple one size fits all answer. Each bird is unique. Some are harmed by changing habitat as Massachusetts goes from a place of fields to one of forests, others are in decline due to competition from other species whether other birds or domestic cats and dogs, habitat fragmentation by poor development is a problem, and climate change is having an effect as well. The good news is that places like Sheep Pasture can do a lot to help if the NRT has the willpower and volunteers to do projects like our Bluebird Trail.  More on this tomorrow.