State Identifies Five Key Areas Critical To Protecting Threatened Bird Species

SHARON – State environmental officials Monday designated five sections of Connecticut, covering nearly 200 square miles, as critical for protecting habitats for threatened and declining bird species.

These "Important Bird Areas" range in size from slightly more than eight square miles around the mouth of the Connecticut River to nearly 100 square miles covering several state parks and wildlife management areas in southeastern Connecticut. The areas include public and private land, much of it with forest cover.

"If we're going to keep them here and keep them healthy, we need to preserve their habitats,'' said Robert Klee, commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Environmentalists and ornithologists have grown increasingly concerned in recent years over dramatic declines in Connecticut of bird species such as the cerulean warbler, the saltmarsh sparrow and the wood thrush. A recent Audubon Connecticut report cited the fragmentation of Connecticut's woodlands as a key reason why so many forest-dwelling bird species are doing so poorly.

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