The Songbirds of Shutesville
Have you heard the song of a warbler yet this spring? Or perhaps a Wood Thrush? As the earth begins to thaw here in Northern Vermont and the days grow longer, our forests fill with songbirds returning to raise their young.
Among them, Wood Thrush, Canada Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and Black-throated Blue Warblers.
These forest birds are building their nests around Vermont, including in the Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor. Considered “species of greatest conservation need” by the State of Vermont, these forest birds are better able to nest in the forest interior where they are protected from predatory house cats and window collisions among other threats. It’s also where they readily find the insects, invertebrates, and fruits essential to their diet.
“While birds are not as limited in movements by roads as other wildlife species are, maintaining forest connectivity remains vitally important to maintaining healthy populations,” said Steve Hagenbuch, a conservation biologist with Audubon Vermont and co-chair of the Waterbury Land Initiative. The Shutesville Hill Wildlife Corridor is a priority area for the National Audubon Society because of its importance as a core breeding habitat along the Atlantic Flyway, which spans from Maine to Florida.
Wild for Warblers
