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April 2025
Wildlife Highlights is published by the Connecticut DEEP Wildlife Division. Please share the newsletter with others to help spread awareness about Connecticut's wildlife!
The primary contributing factor to human-bear conflicts is the presence of easily-accessible food sources near homes and businesses. Photo courtesy of Alison Wilcox.
DEEP Releases Annual State of the Bears Report
Connecticut’s black bear population continues to gradually increase, and the thousands of human-bear conflicts reported each year follow a long-term increasing trend. While a majority of the reported conflicts take place in the western half of Connecticut, residents report issues with bears all across the state. Roughly two thirds of the reported conflicts involve bird feeders and trash. From conflict reports to ongoing research efforts, the State of the Bears
report provides the most up-to-date information on Connecticut’s growing black bear population.
Now that spring has sprung, black bears are active and in search of food. To avoid human-bear conflicts in your yard, it is essential to properly manage birdfeeders, garbage, and other attractants. Access to these attractants directly leads to bears getting comfortable around people and thinking homes and backyards are good places to get food. The best approach to managing wildlife conflicts is preventing them in the first place.
DEEP Wildlife Division biologists carefully navigate this underground hibernaculum in search of hibernating bats.
Biologists Travel Underground to Study Connecticut's Bats
Every other year, DEEP Wildlife Division biologists conduct bat hibernacula surveys at select mines and underground spaces across the state. These surveys provide critical information on Connecticut’s cave bat populations, especially since all but the big brown bat are listed as endangered under Connecticut’s Endangered Species Act.
During the winter, big brown and other cave bats, like tri-colored, northern long-eared, eastern small-footed, little brown, and Indiana bats migrate regionally to these cavernous spaces where they hibernate through the coldest months of the year.
Following standardized protocol, biologists scan through the many rocky twists and turns to not only identify the species of bats present but also check for signs of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a deadly disease caused by a non-native fungus that has killed millions of bats since it was first documented in New York in the winters of 2006-2007.
In addition to closely examining each bat encountered, biologists collect samples from the sites to better understand how WNS persists in the environment. This year, staff noted a slight increase in the number of little brown bats at two sites, a reason to be cautiously optimistic.
The saltmarsh sparrow is the only bird species that breeds solely in the salt marshes of the Northeastern United States, including Connecticut.
DEEP Releases Key Saltmarsh Dataset
After more than two years of intensive work, DEEP and their contractor, Vermont-based geospatial technology company Whiteout Solutions, recently released a groundbreaking high-resolution dataset that captures over 12,000 acres of coastal saltmarsh and adjoining upland buffer in the state of Connecticut.
Lead DEEP Wildlife Division biologist Min Huang has already seen interest from municipalities, engineering companies, and conservation partners. He anticipates researchers, educators, and other partners will make use of these data in a variety of habitat planning and management projects.
One of the main drivers behind the initiative was the need for high resolution baseline data of Connecticut’s coastal ecosystem and the mounting concern for wildlife species like the saltmarsh sparrow, whose populations have declined by 75% since 1990 due to loss of its saltmarsh habitat and sea-level rise. The saltmarsh sparrow is the only bird species that breeds solely in the salt marshes of the Northeastern United States, including our state. Without intervention, the population is projected to go extinct by 2050. Data collected from the Connecticut Saltmarsh Mapping Project will assist in designing the best restorative projects to protect this vulnerable species.
Explore the dataset . . .
American oystercatcher courtesy of Darrell Bumbala.
Shorebirds Return to Connecticut's Coastline
Many shorebirds, including the piping plover and American oystercatcher returned to Connecticut’s shoreline from their wintering grounds a little earlier than expected this year. It is anticipated that some pairs will be taking care of eggs in just a couple of weeks.
State-listed shorebirds have very limited suitable habitat to raise their young and face many other conservation challenges, including off-leash dogs and overcrowding from pedestrian beach traffic. The combination of these factors makes raising their young incredibly stressful and hazardous.
By respecting the fencing and yellow signs warning of piping plover and least tern nesting sites, you can help greatly reduce the stress these birds are often forced to endure.
More on nesting shorebirds . . .
DEEP Wildlife Division biologists take careful measurements of a sedated fisher before releasing it back into the wild.
Fisher Research Project Update
After a second field season of live-trapping in Connecticut, DEEP Wildlife Division biologists are currently tracking 33 adult fishers fitted with GPS collars. The collars have a unique breakaway mechanism that is intentionally designed to break down over time, allowing biologists to retrieve the collars at the conclusion of the study.
This collaborative research effort is being carried out in partnership with the University of Connecticut. The data collected from the collars will provide biologists with important information, including fisher habitat preference, den selection, reproduction rates, and mortality. The primary goal of the project is to better understand why the fisher population is gradually declining despite having suitable habitat in Connecticut. The Wildlife Division appreciates the help of our Seasonal Resource Assistants who spend hours in the field, ensuring the data from the collars are properly collected and ready for biologists to analyze.
Residents are still encouraged to report their fisher sightings to the Wildlife Division.
Report fisher sightings . . .
Wild turkeys courtesy of Matt Balnis.
Spring Turkey Season Is Almost Here
The 2025 Spring Turkey Hunting Season runs from Wednesday, April 30 to Saturday, May 31 (excluding Sundays). Turkey hunting requires a great deal of skill and advance planning to be safe and successful.
While Connecticut has one of the best hunting safety records in the country, visitors to public hunting areas are encouraged to wear fluorescent orange to improve their visibility to other users of the land.
Junior Hunter Training Days: Each year, Connecticut designates specific days when experienced adult hunters are encouraged to take a youth hunting, helping them learn safe and effective hunting practices, develop observational skills, and gain confidence and a comfort level they need to discover a passion for hunting and the outdoors. This year, the spring turkey junior hunter training days will take place on Saturday, April 19 through Saturday, April 26, 2025 (excluding Sunday).
Interested in more hunting-related content? Subscribe to the DEEP Wildlife Division’s free, quarterly newsletter Hunter Highlights.
Many grassland birds, such as the bobolink, are experiencing long-term population decline.
2025 State of the Birds
The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI), a forum of government agencies, private organizations, and bird initiatives helping to advance bird conservation across the continent, released the 2025 edition of the State of the Birds report. The Report is a status assessment of the health of the nation’s bird populations, delivered to the American people by scientists from U.S. bird conservation groups.
A 2019 study published in the journal Science sounded the alarm, highlighting a net loss of 3 billion birds in North America in the past 50 years. The NABCI 2025 report shows those losses are continuing, with declines among several bird trend indicators.
The bobolink pictured above is among the more than 100 birds considered Species of Greatest Conservation Need under the 2025-2035 revision of Connecticut's Wildlife Action Plan. The Plan, which is
forthcoming, will detail the actions needed to secure populations of Connecticut's vulnerable bird species.
Examples spotlighted throughout the report show how proactive, concerted efforts and strategic investments can recover bird populations.
View the report . . .
