June 2003 News Archive
Index
BSC’s Future Directions Available On Line
27 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada’s strategic plan has been updated and posted to the web site. Click here for the full report, or for the four-page summary click here.
BSC’s Senior Scientist Launches New Web Site, Avibase
27 June 2003 - Denis Lepage, Bird Studies Canada’s senior scientist, has launched a new web site called Avibase, which contains taxonomic and distribution information (including maps) for all 10,000 extant species, and 22,000 subspecies of birds in the world, plus several extinct and ancient fossil species. The site also offers searching tools for internet sites and images, as well as links to other sites such as ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information Systems), and BirdLife’s Threatened Birds of the World web site. This site is the result of nearly 12 years of work on a database that now contains close to a million records, including 300,000 occurrence records, and 180,000 synonyms in over a dozen languages. Bird Checklists of the World, which offers bird checklists for over 500 countries and regions, has been integrated into Avibase, but continues to be available directly at "Bird Links to the World". Click here to link to Avibase.
Tundra Swans Focus of BSC Article in Canadian Journal of Zoology
27 June 2003 - Dr. Shannon Badzinski, Research Scientist for the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund and Bird Studies Canada has recently published a paper in the Canadian Journal of Zoology on dominance hierarchies and aggressive interactions among Tundra Swans staging at Long Point, ON. The study reported that Tundra Swans displayed a dominance hierarchy based largely on group or family size. It also documented that swans primarily used low intensity acts of aggression to establish or reinforce their social standing when interacting with other flock members. To download a copy of the reprint, click here.
Boaters Can Save Loon Chicks
27 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada (BSC) asks summer recreationists to use sensitive boating and fishing practices while they visit their favourite lakes. "The Canada Day weekend is extremely important for the survival of Common Loon chicks," says Rhonda Donley, BSC's Canadian Lakes Loon Survey co-ordinator. "It's a time when human activity on lakes is highest and when people have the greatest potential to adversely affect loons who are raising recently hatched chicks." Click here for the full media release.
Tundra Swan Satellite Tracking Featured in Canadian Journal of Zoology
26 June 2003 - Dr. Scott Petrie, Research Director of BSC’s Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund (LPWWRF), and Kerrie Wilcox, Researcher, LPWWRF, recently published a paper on the migratory movements of Tundra Swans in the Canadian Journal of Zoology. They used satellite transmitters (PTTs) to track spring and fall migratory movements of Tundra Swans (1998-2000) captured at Long Point, ON. Migration corridors reported in the paper corroborate those identified in previous studies using alpha-numerically coded neck collars. However, PTTs provided additional information on duration of spring and fall migration, duration of stay in different staging regions, time spent on breeding and wintering areas, and migration speed. Birds migrated between the Atlantic coast and northern prairies along a narrow geographic corridor through portions of the southern Great Lakes. From the northern prairies, swans followed three corridors to breeding areas on the west coast of Hudson Bay, central high arctic and Mackenzie River Delta. Whereas swans spent considerable time on Great Lakes (27% of spring migration) and northern prairie (40%) staging areas in spring, the northern boreal forest was an important fall staging area (48% of fall migration). Tundra Swans spent 20% of the annual cycle on wintering, 28% on spring staging, 29% on breeding, and 23% on fall staging areas. Length of migration, and the fact that birds spend half their lives on staging areas, underscores the importance of conserving Tundra Swan migratory habitats. Thirty-gram, neck-collar-attached PTTs were more suitable than 95-gram teflon-harness-attached backpack PTTs for tracking Tundra Swans. Click here to read this paper.
BSC’s Long Point Waterfowl & Wetlands Research Fund Research Director is Featured Speaker
26 June 2003 - Dr. Scott Petrie, Research Director of BSC’s Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund (LPWWRF), gave a talk on Tundra Swan satellite tracking at the recent Friends of Hullet Annual General Meeting, 22 June. Petrie was also the featured speaker on Mute Swan population dynamics and other LPWWRF projects at the Ministry of Natural Resources Staff Day at the Junior Ranger Camp, 19 June.
BirdLife International Survey Team Obtains Unique Footage of Newly-discovered Owl Species
Cambridge, UK, 24 June 2003 - A BirdLife International survey team has been the first to film a newly-discovered species of pygmy-owl, the Pernambuco Pygmy-owl, but it’s future is far from assured, with the researchers instantly recommending it for classification as 'Critically Endangered'. The BirdLife International team's sighting was in fragmented forest on a privately-owned sugarcane plantation in Brazil. Click here to read the media release.
New Study Finds That Many of Panama's Key Sites for Wildlife are Threatened
Panama City, Republic of Panama, 24 June 2003 - The most detailed study to date of the status of birds and other wildlife in Panama, for its size one of the world's most biologically diverse nations, has revealed that many of its most globally important sites enjoy no formal protection, and are in danger from deforestation, development, and other threats. The Directory of Important Bird Areas in Panama shows that El Chorogo-Palo Blanco, the best remaining site for the endemic birds of Panama's western Pacific slope, and the Upper Bay of Panama, used by more than 1.3 million migratory shorebirds from North America each year, are in urgent need of conservation action. The book has been produced by BirdLife International's Partner in Panama, the Panama Audubon Society (PAS) with financing from Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife's Partner in the Netherlands), and the United States Forest Service, and is based on studies sponsored by Panama's Fundación Natura. The 342-page book, written in both English and Spanish, describes each of the 88 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in the country, and also includes a list of threatened birds, data on other threatened/endemic fauna, and conservation issues for each site. To read the media release, click here.
BSC Research Presented at British Columbia Field Ornithologists Conference
22 June 2003 - Tasha Smith, Bird Studies Canada’s BC Program Coordinator, presented the BC Coastal Waterbird Survey to the BC Field Ornithologists annual conference, which took place in Radium, BC, from 20 - 22 June. Two posters were also on display at the conference, featuring BC Owl Surveys and other BSC programs in BC. Click here for more information about regional programs in British Columbia.
BSC Building Community Relationships
12 June 2003 - Growing interest in Bird Studies Canada’s work has resulted in a series of requests for presentations, including several from the Long Point community. Rosie Kirton, Bird Studies Canada’s Membership/Donations Coordinator, has met with the University Women’s Club (Simcoe), Langton Women’s Institute, Oakcrest Women’s Institute, and Lyndoch Women’s Institute over the past month. Her presentations discussed BSC’s research in the Long Point area, across Canada, and internationally.
Partners-in-Flight Planning for North America
12 June 2003 - A small group of landbird conservation experts from Canada, Mexico, and the United States met in Brighton, Colorado, in late May to finalize content of the draft North American Landbird Conservation Plan. Michael Bradstreet, Bird Studies Canada's (BSC) Director & Chief Executive Officer, and Dr. Peter Blancher, BSC's Partners-in-Flight Scientist, participated as part of the writing team. The final plan is expected to be published by fall 2003. Click here for more information about Partners-in-Flight.
BSC and Norfolk Field Naturalists Co-host Workshop on Birding and Eco-tourism in the Long Point Area
12 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada (BSC) and the Norfolk Field Naturalists (NFN) co-hosted a productive workshop at the Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO) Visitor Centre on 10 June. The 20 attendees represented a spectrum of tourism and conservation interests from the local community. The purpose of this workshop was to share past and present experiences with birding-related eco-tourism stakeholders in the Long Point area and identify opportunities and concerns regarding future eco-tourism development. Audrey Heagy, BSC’s Canadian Migration Monitoring Network Development Officer, will take the lead in further defining options and constraints and developing a proposal for discussion. Development of this project is supported by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
BSC Leading Development of Ontario Partners-in-Flight Conservation Plans
11 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada has just signed a three-year partnership agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Canadian Wildlife Service (Ontario Region), and Wildlife Habitat Canada to lead the development of Partners-in-Flight Landbird Conservation Plans for each of Ontario's four Bird Conservation Regions. Partners-in-Flight is a North American-wide conservation initiative that seeks to: keep common birds common; conserve species before they become imperiled; and, protect endangered species from becoming extinct. Click here for more information about this initiative.
Boreal Songbird Research Featured in Bird Conservation
11 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada’s (BSC) Partners-in-Flight Scientist, Dr. Peter Blancher is the featured author of an article on boreal songbirds in the American Bird Conservancy’s publication Bird Conservation. Click here for the complete article.
North American Loon Fund Launches Web Site
11 June 2003 - Click here to link to the North American Loon Fund’s (NALF) new web site. The site is designed to offer items of interest to both the casual reader and loon biologist. NALF’s upcoming annual conference is scheduled for 3 August in Sackville, NB. For information on document or manuscript submissions contact Steve Timmermans at stimmermans@bsc-eoc.org.
Meet BSC’s 2003 Seasonal Staff
10 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada is fortunate to have recruited a talented crew of staff for the 2003 field season. Click here to meet them.
2003 NABCI Calendar of Events – Revisions and Additions
7 June 2003 – Bird conservationists please note that the NABCI Canada Council has released revisions and additions to the 2003 Calendar of Events. Please click here for the full Calendar.
Species at Risk Act Proclaimed
6 June 2003 - Environment Minister David Anderson has announced the proclamation of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). The legislation is designed to protect endangered wildlife in Canada. It bans the killing or harassing of species listed under the act and sets out procedures for the protection of their critical habitat. SARA applies to species under federal jurisdiction, including marine species, migratory species, and terrestrial species on federal territory. Click here for more information.
Bird Studies Canada’s National Headquarters and Research Centre Receives Prestigious Design Award
6 June 2003 - Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc. have won a prestigious Citation from the Wood Design Awards, a program that recognizes and awards architectural excellence in the use of wood from architects in both the U.S. and Canada, for BSC’s new Port Rowan facility. Only 13 projects were selected from a total of 217 submissions on 30 May 2002. The Wood Design Awards encourages and awards excellence in architectural design in projects where wood is a significant element and plays a central role in the success of the design solution. The selected projects will be published in the Fall issue [September, 2003] of Wood Design & Building and Wood Le Bois magazines, and in the 2003 Wood Design Awards book that will provide much more detail on each. Click here to see the winners!
BSC Member Receives National Conservation Award
2 June 2003 - Congratulations to Bird Studies Canada member and volunteer Tom Maccagno who recently received the Gold award for Conservation at the Canadian Environment Awards 2003 gala in Toronto. Tom has generously directed his $5000 award to BSC with a portion to be allocated to Lac La Biche Birding Society in Alberta. To learn more about Tom's inspiring commitment to conservation click here
Photo credit: Canadian Environment Awards 2003
Bicknell’s Thrush - One of North America’s Rarest Songbirds Key Focus of BSC Program
4 June 2003 - Bird Studies Canada’s (BSC) High Elevation Landbird Program (HELP) kicks off it’s 2003 field work season with volunteers and staff scouring the hilltops of northern New Brunswick and Cape Breton for one of North America’s rarest songbirds - Bicknell’s Thrush. The program will also collect data on other species found at high elevations. In order to create a binational and range-wide monitoring protocol for Bicknell’s Thrush, protocols have been changed to improve harmonization with the Mountain Birdwatch program of the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Click here to read more about HELP.
Gurney’s Pitta Rediscovered in Myanmar
Cambridge, UK, 3 June 2003 - BirdLife International has announced the rediscovery, after 89 years, of Gurney’s Pitta, one the rarest and most beautiful birds in the world, in southern Myanmar. Gurney’s Pitta, Pitta gurneyi, is a brilliantly coloured secretive bird of the forest floor. Prior to this discovery, only around 30 birds were known in a small area of southern Thailand. Click here for BirdLife International’s full story.
BSC’s Alberta Programs Featured at Foresters Association Annual Meeting
2 June 2003 - Lisa Priestley, Bird Studies Canada’s (BSC) Prairie Canada Program Manager, will present a display on BSC’s Alberta Nocturnal Owl Survey and Raptor Nest Cards Program to the Alberta Professional Foresters Association at their upcoming Annual General Meeting 26 June 2003. Click here for detailed meeting information.
Bird Studies Canada's Baillie Fund Recipients Announced
June 2003 - The Trustees of Bird Studies Canada's James L. Baillie Memorial Fund are pleased to announce the recipients of grants for 2003. The Fund provides grants to amateur and professional naturalists throughout Canada, who are dedicated to the conservation and study of birds. This year 20 groups and individuals were recipients in the Regular, Migration Monitoring, and Student categories. Click here for the complete list of grant recipients.
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