Birds to Watch

Once considered among the most common and typical birds of the New England landscape, species such as the American Kestrel, Eastern Meadowlark, and Eastern Towhee are now known to be declining significantly. Many other species such as Whip-poor-will, Killdeer, and Baltimore Oriole, are also experiencing dwindling populations, judging from trends documented by annual breeding bird surveys. Though such species do not yet appear on any endangered species list, these birds are quietly slipping away while we focus all our energies and resources on saving the rarest species from extinction. Our efforts to protect rare species, such as Piping Plover or Bald Eagle must continue, but the decline of more common birds means that we must add a new approach.

Mass Audubon is launching Birds to Watch, a new program that asks you to help us track the populations of declining, yet still viable, bird species in towns and cities throughout the Commonwealth to better understand and reverse the causes of their decreasing numbers.

The goal of Birds to Watch is to protect declining bird species in Massachusetts before they become endangered, by:

• Tracking populations of birds, which, though declining, do not yet appear on any endangered species list
• Enlisting the help of as many citizen scientists as possible throughout Massachusetts to help us record birds
• Working at the local level to gather information throughout the Commonwealth rather than concentrating on biological hotspots
• Creating a web-based data entry system that makes it easy to contribute to the project and then to view the progress we are making

To help us—and the birds—please consider volunteering for our Oriole and Whip-poor-will projects next spring and summer. And, keep an eye on this website as we add more Birds to Watch.