George Gavutis, Jr. has been a well-known birder in New Hampshire for many decades and has added significantly to bird research in the state. His contributions to the NH Breeding Bird Atlas included field work at Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), where he spent many June days over the years. He noted that he was almost never home for Father’s Day! He is a long-term participant in the North American Breeding Bird Survey, as well as Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). His column “Walk on the Wildlife Side” is a popular feature of the Kensington Community Newsletter. In September 2023, he was presented with the Goodhue-Elkins Award at the NH Audubon annual meeting. This award honors someone who has made outstanding contributions to the study of NH birds. Although George is no longer able to be quite as active outdoors, he continues to observe birds and record sightings from the observation room at the top of his house. From this vantage point, he can survey ponds, fields, and woods, all managed on his property for the birds. I had the privilege of interviewing him there, watching many birds come and go to the feeders as we talked.
George Gavutis Jr. receives the 2023 Goodhue-Elkins Award. Photo by Rebecca Suomala.
How old were you when you became a birder and what got you started?
When I was nine years old, I bought my first bird book— the Birds of America, which has all the life histories of all the birds. Everything you need to know is in that book. I still have that book, right there on the table. I grew up in Lawrence, MA, a country boy living in the city, but we did have a big back yard. My Dad would bring lumber home, and I would build bird houses and bird feeders. I still remember when my mother saw some Evening Grosbeaks in the yard while I was at school, but they never came back for me to see. I didn’t really get into actual birding though, until much later. While I was a student at the University of Massachusetts, I started working at Plum Island as a Biological Technician, and they taught me everything I know! After college, I worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Services as the Refuge Manager at Plum Island, where I learned about waterfowl and shorebirds. During the 1980s, I would come up to Hampton to help work on the NH Breeding Bird Atlas and wrote several articles about the birds nesting in the salt marshes. Then, I was moved to the regional office and became the manager for Region Five, which stretches all the way from Maine down to Virginia. After I retired from US Fish and Wildlife Services at age 55, I volunteered for the Forest Service as well as NH Audubon.
When did you move here to Kensington?
We moved here 50 years ago, in 1975. Before that, we had lived in several places, including in the lighthouse at Plum Island for six months.
Do you have a favorite sighting in New Hampshire?
Yes! We had a Kentucky Warbler here for a few months starting in early June 2007. I heard a strange call that sounded a little like a yellowthroat, but different. I spent an hour looking for it, and finally I saw it. I couldn’t believe it! I called Dennis Abbot and Davis Finch, who came over and confirmed it. Many birders came to see it.
Do you keep track of the number of birds you have on your state list?
Not really. It is well over 200 species, but what I really pay attention to is my yard, which is over 20 acres. I have had almost 200 species here. I’ve had birds as unusual as Mute Swans, Brant, and loons all flying over at times.
What changes have you seen in birds over the years?
All the black birds! When I look out and the trees are full of them, there are Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, Fish Crows, Common Ravens, American Crows, and young eagles. I was thinking to myself, why does this look so different? Because, it used to be all American Crows. Other than the raven and eagles, they have come up from the south. We have another southern species here, Carolina Wren, nesting in at least a dozen different places—all kinds of crazy places! There has been quite a turnover of species in the last 50 years, and we have been here long enough to see it. The Carolina Wrens arrived maybe ten years ago. Now there are Northern Cardinals and Red-bellied Woodpeckers here all winter. In the past, there were American Goshawk nesting in three places nearby. I used to watch while the goshawk would come into the yard and sit in those trees next to the pond. The female Wood Duck would fly straight into her nesting box, but the male would peel off at the last second and then the goshawk would go after it. I once watched it catch one of the males, but I went down there to flush it and saved the Wood Duck. In the mid-1980s, I was out in the yard and heard a new sound, a cack-cack-cack, and it was a Cooper’s Hawk for the first time in the area. They gradually replaced the goshawks, which are now mainly up in the north country. We used to have Golden-winged Warblers nesting across the street. Out back, in the early 1980s, I even had Blue-winged, Golden-winged, Brewster’s, and Lawrence’s Warblers all in the same day! That is why I manage my woods for early succession, as we are surrounded by a thousand acres of mature woods.
Have you had a New Hampshire nemesis bird?
I’m not a real birder in that I don’t go to see birds, but now that I think of it—the Yellow Rail. I worked really hard to help another birder see one at Rowley Marsh down in Ipswich, MA. Then I tried to find one for Davis Finch in New Hampshire. We went out in the Hampton marshes with Steve Mirick, and we found lots of Virginia Rails and Soras, but not a Yellow Rail.
What is your favorite place to bird in New Hampshire besides your own yard?
Deer Hill Wildlife Management Area in Brentwood is a fantastic place. It has wonderful habitat with nesting Pied-billed Grebes, early warblers, gallinule, and snipe. And of course, Umbagog NWR, where I spent so much time over the years doing the surveys.
Do you have advice for young birders just starting out?
Go out with older birders and let them show you some good birding spots. I took Ashton Almeida out on the CBC for Kensington to “The Cove,” and we found quite a few Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a Swamp Sparrow, a bird that is hard to find on the CBC. I can’t really make it out to difficult-to-get-to birding areas anymore, so the young birders will have to continue to bird those places on their own.