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Mackenzie's Migration Monitoring Program is a joint project of Mackenzie Nature Observatory and the Canadian Wildlife Service (Delta, BC). The station has been in operation since 1995.
Mackenzie is located in north central British Columbia, a beautiful, two-hour drive north of Prince George. Our banding station is located 14 kilometres northwest of Mackenzie within the Rocky Mountain Trench, between the Parsnip Reach of Williston Reservoir and the Rocky Mountains. The station operates daily from approx. July 22 - Sept. 24. Additional migration monitoring is carried out by volunteers who conduct visual surveys on 3 different one-kilometre transects on weekends during the spring migration and when possible during the fall. The transects are located in mainly riparian habitat, one adjacent to Mugaha Banding Station, one at Chichouyenily Creek approx. 3.5 km west of Mackenzie and one at Gagnon Creek 10.4 km south of Mackenzie.
Mugaha Marsh in part is a natural wetland, but some parts of it are only flooded when water levels of Williston Reservoir are high. It was thought that the vegetation would be kept in check by flooding, but this isn't always the case and it is necessary to do some vegetation management at our site. Mugaha Marsh and some of the adjacent area has been proposed for Sensitive Area designation under the Forest Practices Code Act of BC which will offer a degree of protection while allowing for this type of management.
Many of the species found at Mackenzie are associated with habitat types that are important to monitor, such as intact interior forest, mature forest, multiple layer canopy and riparian. Population trends of certain species can indicate conditions in these habitat types. The most common warblers captured are American Redstarts, Northern Waterthrushes and Yellow-rumped Warblers (we get both "Audubon's" and "Myrtle" Warblers). Ruby-crowned Kinglets are caught in good numbers and one
year in particular has made Pine Siskins our number one species. Four songbirds (Hammond's Flycatcher, Varied Thrush, Townsend's Warbler and MacGillivray's Warbler) currently monitored at Mugaha Marsh are of international significance, as a large portion of their global population is in British Columbia. A further five species captured at our station (Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird, Clay-colored Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow) are provincially significant as they are limited to this portion of British Columbia.
Our station often gets both eastern and western species and races due to our location -- providing a huge learning experience to visiting ornithologists. We have had several hybrid sapsuckers (Red-breasted x Yellow-bellied crosses) plus we get both Yellow-shafted and Red-shafted Flickers and the occasional intergrade.
Living quarters at Mugaha are fairly rustic, with two small travel trailers providing on site accommodations for the bander and long-term volunteers. Our wall tent that served as our banding lab has been replaced with a new building. The station is located approximately 15 minutes drive north of the town of Mackenzie, which has a variety of accommodations including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and several campgrounds.
Information from this program was used by the authors of Birds of BC when writing Volume 4 of Birds of B.C. The migration monitoring program has helped develop awareness of birds in our area and their habitat needs. It has been supported by industry, government and conservation groups.
For more information about the Observatory, membership and volunteer opportunities, please contact:
Vi Lambie
c/o Mackenzie Nature Observatory
Box 1598
Mackenzie, British Columbia
Canada V0J 2C0
Email: jlambie@telus.net
Phone: (250) 997-6876 (H)
For a listing of all the activities of the Mackenzie Nature Observatory contact:
Ryan Bichon at the Observatory's address or
Phone: (250) 997-2632 (W) or (250) 997-4601(H)Other partner for Mugaha Banding Station:
Canadian Wildlife Service
Pacific Wildlife Research Centre
5421 Robertson Road
Delta, British Columbia
Canada V4K 3N2
Contact: Wendy Easton
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