State of the Birds, 2011. Documeinting Changes in Massachusetts' Birdlife.

摘要

The birdlife of Massachusetts is exceptionally rich, containing both a great diversity of species and several populations of global significance. Thanks to a long history of bird and habitat conservation and some of the earliest and strongest environmental protection laws in the country, the citizens of the Commonwealth continue to enjoy the reassuring sounds of warblers and thrushes in our forests, masses of waterbirds along our shores, and eagles soaring overhead. The goal of this report is to create a comprehensive overview of the status of all of our breeding and wintering bird species, thereby laying the foundation for a reevaluation of the Commonwealths bird conservation strategy. If successful, we will continue to protect and preserve healthy bird populations and the habitats in which they reside across our state. We use several science-based methodologies to look closely at bird populations. The data reveal positive trends: distributions of about 60% of our breeding bird species are increasing according to recent Breeding Bird Atlas results, and the birdlife of our cities/suburbs and forests is becoming richer. However, it also becomes clear that in recent decades many Massachusetts bird populations have decreased and continue to decline. These declines are occurring not just among our rarest species but affect a broad spectrum of bird families in many habitats and include some of the most familiar and beloved birds of our backyards and countryside birds that we tend to think of as common. These findings are disturbing and raise questions not only about the health of our bird populations but also about the state of our environment and the quality of peoples lives.