Audubon internship welcomes young adults as wildlife conservationists

SHARON — The Audubon Center of Sharon has been on a mission to connect people with the nature surrounding them for more than fifty years. Recently, it has continued that goal by introducing a new avenue for young adults to experience the wilderness by implementing an internship program.

Spanning eight weeks across the summer, Audubon interns focus on conservation projects that center around the four main bird species that the center monitors: the purple martin, American kestrel, wood thrush and chimney swift.

Volunteer Coordinator Bethany Sheffer explained that the program is headed by Center Director Eileen Fielding, and was originally part of a partnership with Yale University, but has since become specific to the Sharon Audubon.

Participants come to Connecticut from across the country, housed either at the center or at the local Miles Wildlife Sanctuary a short drive away.

Interns take on a variety of responsibilities, from manual labor in the rehab center to tracking populations in the local nesting grounds.

Sharon Audubon is one of the few sanctuaries in the region that can treat the chimney swift, a bird famous for only thriving in groups. One responsibility the interns have, Sheffer said, was to keep the swifts fed mealworms consistently over a 14 hour time period.

The center also monitors a colony of purple martins, and interns help provide and maintain nesting space, as well as apply tracking devices to the birds.

Hannah, a conservation intern this summer, said, “Watching the chicks grow through the summer has been a bittersweet experience, but one that is pretty unforgettable, especially when it becomes time to color band and feeling a delicate bird in the hand.”

Other species like the wood thrush are monitored because they act as a “forest species indicator,” meaning their population is heavily tied to the fragmentation, elimination, and lack of management of forests.

“As our center is really kind of a flagship for forest conservation and healthy forest management, the wood thrust is sort of like the poster child for that kind of work,” Sheffer said.

The program aims to offer its interns a leg up in the world of conservation and inspires them to pursue more roles in the field, along with making a difference for the local and global wildlife that inhabits our planet.