Some of the best-known birds of prey, such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons, have increased in numbers dramatically in the last two decades. They’ve benefited from restoration efforts in New Hampshire and from the banning of harmful pesticides that nearly wiped out some species in New Hampshire.
But biologists have recently found overall about one third of the state’s bird species are in long-term decline. New Hampshire Audubon recently released its “State of the Birds” report, which examined population trends for 186 New Hampshire species. Audubon biologist Pamela Hunt compiled the report, which determined 65 species are decreasing in numbers, 42 are increasing and 27 appear stable. There were another 52 species that lacked sufficient data or didn’t display a clear trend.
“Wildlife populations are always changing, often for reasons independent of human activity. As a result, it is not unexpected to see some species increasing, others declining, and some apparently stable during a given time period,” according to the report. “However, when the trends for several species in the same habitat all show the same direction, and/or trends are maintained for several years in a row, it is reasonable to assume the pervasive influence of additional factors.”
Biologists have watched certain species, such as the northern cardinal, increase their ranges greatly while others, such as the state bird, the purple finch, are decreasing in numbers. Species in decline include shrub land and grassland birds, along with several aerial insectivores, such as swallows, according to the Audubon.
Timber harvesting, acid deposition and climate change, among other factors, could account for species decline. The state’s temperature has risen about 2 degrees in 30 years, which could be affecting species that live in the state’s colder regions.
While heavy rains can affect nesting species by reducing their cover and leaving them vulnerable to predators, biologists are also concerned that climate change could throw migratory species that rely on specific food sources out of sync.
About half the species in the state live in forests and the report splits them into spruce-fir birds and those that live in hardwood/mixed forests. There were less data for spruce-fir species, though more were found to be decreasing than increasing. Possible threats include declining forest condition, climate change, forest conversion from spruce-fir to hardwood and potentially events happening outside the state during the non-breeding season. Hunt found for hardwood/mixed forests species that birds that can adapt to human-altered landscapes are doing reasonably well. Many species, particularly those that rely on grasslands and open habitats, have suffered as their habitat has gradually reverted to forest.
Along with identifying threats to birds, the report provides strategies for addressing them. Visit
www.nhaudubon.org to see the report.
Know your birds
Bald eagles
The national symbol, with its six- to eight-foot wingspan and distinctive white head and tail, is an opportunistic eater. A bald eagle will swoop in to dramatically haul a trout out of the Merrimack River or will munch on some roadkill. Bald eagles, which stand three feet tall, live in New Hampshire year-round, but during winter months eagles from Canada migrate here and congregate nearby open water. Females can weigh up to 14 pounds and males weigh a few pounds less. Both an eagle’s large beak and its feet are bright yellow. Eagles, which can live up to 30 years, have bounced back from the brink in New Hampshire. Sightings now during winter months are fairly common, particularly along the Merrimack River. Bald eagles are listed as threatened in New Hampshire.
Peregrine falcons
Like bald eagles, falcons were essentially wiped out of New Hampshire. Falcons are known for flying at incredibly high speeds —230 miles per hour — when diving at prey, usually other birds, such as pigeons or ducks. They’ll try to physically knock prey out of the sky. They’re characterized by a bluish-gray back and a barred white underneath, and they spread a three-and-a-half-foot wingspan, according to the state Fish and Game Department. Falcon pairs mate for life. The state’s best-known pair of peregrine falcons live atop Brady Sullivan Tower in downtown Manchester. Peregrine falcon numbers appear to be increasing. They are listed as threatened in New Hampshire. They live throughout the state.
Osprey
Osprey feed almost exclusively on fish and they’ll dive in feet-first to grab an unsuspecting snack from the water. Osprey are characterized by a white breast and belly and dark brown back and wings, and a four-and-a-half- to six-foot wingspan. They weigh up to four pounds and have a distinctive “eye mask” that runs from the back of their beak all the way down the nape of their neck, according to state Fish and Game. Osprey numbers are on the increase in New Hampshire. Osprey often choose man-made structures, such as utility poles, platforms and bridges for their nests.
Red-tailed hawk
Perhaps the most common hawks in North America, red-tailed hawks are often seen alongside highways and roads as they hunt for rodents, squirrels, rabbits or snakes. Characterized by a distinctively red tail, a pale front and streaked belly, and broad brown wings, red-tailed hawks spread a four-and-a-half-foot wingspan and weigh in at two to four pounds. They stand up to 22 inches and can live up to 21 years in the wild.
Sy Montgomery on birds
Chickens are not stupid.
This is the main point of the first chapter of Sy Montgomery’s new book, Birdology: Adventures with a pack of hens, a peck of pigeons, cantankerous crows, fierce falcons, hip hop parrots, baby hummingbirds, and one murderously big living dinosaur (Free Press, 260 pages), which will be released April 6.
Montgomery, who lives in New Hampshire, is also the author of The Good Good Pig, Journey of the Pink Dolphins and other books about animals. In Birdology she devotes one chapter apiece to chickens, a cassowary, hummingbirds, hawks, pigeons, parrots and crows. None of them — she would like you to appreciate this fact — are stupid.
Montgomery’s knowledge of birds comes from living with them, starting with a parakeet she brought home at age 7. She’s also traveled extensively to spend time with them.
She’s even met Snowball, the YouTube rock star parrot.
The hawks chapter features an extensive visit to Nancy Cowan’s New Hampshire School of Falconry, where a hawk named Jazz “seems more immediately alive than any human I have ever known,” Montgomery writes.
To read Birdology is to travel with Montgomery as she takes up falconry in New Hampshire, communes with Snowball in Indiana, meets impossibly tiny rescued baby hummingbirds in California, ponders the pros and cons of crows roosting in Auburn, N.Y., and makes friends with chickens in her own home.
