New Hampshire Audubon is pleased to announce the publication of “The State of New Hampshire's Birds – A Conservation Guide.” This document is a follow up to the technical report, “The State of New Hampshire's Birds,” released last spring.
The Conservation Guide takes the information from the original report and presents it in a non-technical form that is colorful and easy to understand. It includes photos of birds and their habitat, information on how our state's birds are doing, threats to their populations, and conservation strategies for each group of birds. You'll also find a new section with a wide variety of actions that inpiduals, businesses, and communities can undertake to help our birds.
One-third of the bird species that nest in New Hampshire are declining, including familiar species like the barn swallow and Baltimore oriole, and even our state bird, the purple finch. Helping them may be as simple as keeping your cats indoors or as complicated as conserving valuable winter habitat in South America. One of the goals of the Conservation Guide is to present all these options in one place, and tie them to the issues facing our birds here at home. The publication is designed for a wide audience, but especially interested inpiduals, landowners, and community officials, including members of conservation commissions and planning boards.
Not all the bird news is bad. One-third of New Hampshire's birds are either stable or increasing. Some of these species have been restored to New Hampshire thanks to conservation actions, like restoration programs for the bald eagle and peregrine falcon and regulations concerning DDT and air quality. For populations to remain secure, we need to recognize the value of these previous achievements, and keep existing protections strong and uncompromised. This too is one of the key messages of the Conservation Guide. Without an engaged and informed citizenry, protecting birds and their habitats is a much more challenging task, and the Conservation Guide continues the effort to inform conservation-minded people throughout New Hampshire.
The guide is available at nhaudubon.org. Printed copies may be picked up at the McLane Center in Concord and the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn while supplies last.
