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The McLean Foundation 
for its recent support 
of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas.

9 December 2005 
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Migratory Bird Focus Hindering Flu Controls

30 November 2005, BirdLife International - BirdLife has again stressed that the evidence that migratory birds are spreading H5NI Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza is weak at best, and getting weaker as each outbreak is investigated.
  BirdLife voiced its concern at the close of the eighth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (“COP8”, 20-25 November), during which an “Avian Flu Early Warning system” was announced. The proposed system would map and monitor the movements of migratory waterbirds, making the information available especially to developing countries. According to a CMS spokesperson, "the exact workings of the system have yet to be ironed out."
  BirdLife International agrees that better data, and better integrated data, on bird migrations are badly needed, but primarily for reasons of conservation, not public or veterinary health. BirdLife is concerned that a focus on monitoring wild birds must not distract governments from taking effective control measures for avian flu. The key steps are to improve bio-security, by keeping wild birds apart from poultry, enhanced monitoring and control of poultry movements and markets, and swift culling of infected flocks. Countries currently free of the disease should consider a ban on imports of domestic poultry and wild birds for the pet trade from affected regions. For more information, click here.

Tri-national Wildlife Conservation Plans Unveiled

30 November 2005, Montreal – The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), in cooperation with federal agencies, scientists, academics, and nongovernmental organizations, today published the first tri-national conservation plans ever to be formulated for North American wildlife species.
  Under the North American Conservation Action Plans (NACAPs), a common conservation approach will be applied to six wildlife species - the leatherback turtle, humpback whale, Pink-footed Shearwater, Burrowing Owl, Ferruginous Hawk, and black-tailed prairie dog - across Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Each plan suggests actions to reduce threats, share expertise, and provide key information to the public and wildlife officers.
  Highlights of the NACAPs include: a proposal to reduce the use of pesticides that affect the Burrowing Owl's food supply; distribution of information to ship masters and their companies on how to avoid striking whales; promotion of sustainable fishing practices and elimination of dumping of debris at sea that may affect sea turtles. For more information and to view species’ plans, click here.
 

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Promoting IBAs in Your Community

      

1 December 2005 - Important Bird Areas (IBAs) represent an increasingly important tool in the protection of unique bird habitats around the world. In Canada alone, approximately 600 IBAs have been identified. Internationally, there are over 7500 sites in 170 countries. The importance of this huge network has been blunted by a lack of consistency in how they are recognized. To promote network identification, BirdLife International has just released a new Important Bird Areas logo and usage guidelines. If you are involved in managing or promoting an IBA, and are developing communication materials such as signs, commemorative plaques, brochures, publications, or other media, you are asked to use the approved IBA logo. High resolution versions of the logo, in both English and French, are available by contacting Bird Studies Canada at birdmap@bsc-eoc.org or Nature Canada at swren@naturecanada.ca. Staff are available to answer questions and provide advice on the size and placement of the IBA logo, and provide comments on text for signs or commemorative plaques. To view the IBA online directory, your source for interactive data summaries and maps, click here .

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BSC Staff Receives Thomas G. Brydges Award

9 December 2005 - BSC staff member Dick Cannings was presented with the Thomas G. Brydges Award at the National Science Meeting of the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network (EMAN), held recently in Penticton, BC. This award is given annually to those who have demonstrated enthusiastic leadership and commitment to advancing ecological monitoring and research in Canada.
  Dick coordinates the Christmas Bird Count nationally as part of his responsibilities at Bird Studies Canada. He is also the coordinator of the British Columbia and Yukon Owl Survey. Dick is the Chair of the Bird Subcommittee for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). This is the subcommittee which reviews the status of bird species in Canada and makes recommendations as to whether they should be considered to be at risk under the federal Species at Risk Act.
  The award is named in honour of Dr. Thomas G. Brydges, the founding Director of the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network Coordinating Office. Dr. Brydges retired from Environment Canada in the spring of 1998 after an exceptional career, making many significant contributions to Canadian society. His research on the ecological effects of acid rain led directly to the implementation of sulphur emission controls.
  EMAN is a national partnership of government agencies, universities, and other organizations (including Bird Studies Canada) that promotes the coordination of environmental monitoring across the country. You can read more about EMAN by clicking here and the Thomas G. Brydges award by clicking here.

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Legal Action Taken to Protect Spotted Owls

Photo: © Jared Hobbs

8 December 2005 - The Sierra Legal Defence Fund has filed an application on behalf of four environmental groups seeking an order that would force the federal Environment Minister to protect Spotted Owls in British Columbia on an emergency basis, essentially overriding provincial authority which normally applies. The court case invokes an untested section of the federal Species at Risk Act [2001] which, at the time of its passing, was one of the most controversial provisions with the provinces.
  British Columbia is the northern extent of the Spotted Owl range in North America, and has only 6 breeding pairs and 11 single owls in the wild. The Spotted Owl is considered to be critically Endangered in Canada, with the population falling by more than 80 percent since 1991 when about 100 breeding pairs were found. An estimated 2400 pairs of owls exist in the northwest U.S., where the species is in steady decline and has been listed as endangered.
  A debate over the protection of Spotted Owls has raged in both Canada and the U.S. over a number of years. This is because their habitat is solid stands of old growth forest, a habitat which is diminishing in the face of forestry pressures. Recent studies have shown that mortality of young birds is unsustainably high as they disperse from natal patches of old-growth forest through large areas of clear-cuts and very young forests, where they typically starve or are quickly killed by Great Horned Owls.
  Bird Studies Canada coordinates owl monitoring in British Columbia but the Spotted Owl is so rare that the survey cannot track their numbers. However, being actively involved in owl conservation in the province, BSC cannot help but be concerned about the status of the species and is supportive of measures necessary to ensure its recovery.

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MMP Training Sessions Prove Popular

7 December 2005 - Through funding support received from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Environment Canada, BSC's Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP) team have been busy organizing and hosting numerous volunteer participant recruitment, training, and information sessions at locations across Ontario. Recent sessions held near Brantford, Bradford, and Cornwall in Ontario attracted over 100 interested people to learn about the MMP, its monitoring protocols, and to adopt marsh monitoring survey routes in 2006. Several more of these sessions are planned for winter and early spring of 2006 throughout U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions of the Great Lakes basin, the St. Lawrence River and areas in Québec. Those interested in learning more the MMP should contact Kathy Jones at aqsurvey@bsc-eoc.org for activities in the Great Lakes basin or Catherine Poussart at catherine.poussart@ec.gc.ca for activities in the St. Lawrence River/Québec region.

MMP Presented at Centre Saint-Laurent

29 November 2005 - Catherine Poussart, Québec Marsh Monitoring Program coordinator, was the guest speaker at Environment Canada’s Centre Saint-Laurent (CSL) weekly seminar in Montreal. Catherine presented the Québec Marsh Monitoring Program and reported on the first ten years of the MMP in the Great Lakes basin. The Centre Saint-Laurent funded the Québec MMP for the 2005 season, helping Bird Studies Canada expand the program along the St. Lawrence River, produce participant kits, and develop a protocol for salt marsh surveys. The presentation was followed by a meeting to discuss how MMP data could be used for the existing federal-provincial program Monitoring the State of the St. Lawrence River. Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service is also a long-term funder of the Québec Marsh Monitoring Program.

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Le 29 novembre dernier, Catherine Poussart, coordonnatrice du Programme de surveillance des marais  (PSM) au Québec, était la conférencière invitée du Centre Saint-Laurent d’Environnement Canada. Madame Poussart a présenté le Programme de surveillance des marais du Québec puis dressé un bilan des données amassées dans le cadre de ce même programme en place dans le bassin des Grands Lacs depuis 1995. En 2005, le Centre Saint-Laurent a offert un soutien financier au PSM du Québec, ce qui a permis à Études d’Oiseaux Canada d’étendre le programme le long du Saint-Laurent, de produire la trousse à l’intention des participants et de développer un protocole d’inventaires pouvant être appliqué dans les marais salés. Une rencontre entre quelques biologistes du Centre Saint-Laurent et madame Poussart a eu lieu ; il a été question de la façon dont les données du PSM pourraient être utilisées dans le cadre du programme fédéral-provincial Suivi de l’état du Saint-Laurent. Le Service canadien de la faune d’Environnement Canada est également un partenaire financier du Programme de surveillance des marais du Québec.

Molson Foundation Supports Scaup Tracking

9 December 2005 - The Kenneth M. Molson Foundation recently contributed $15,000 toward the Lesser and Greater scaup satellite tracking project being conducted by the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund. LPWWRF has been tracking 6 Lesser Scaup with satellite transmitters in spring 2005 and plan to add up to 10 Lesser and 10 Greater scaup on the lower Great Lakes in spring 2006. This research will substantially increase our understanding of scaup movement patterns, as well as the breeding and wintering ground affinities of scaup that migrate through the lower Great Lakes. To view the movement patterns of the birds tracked over 2005, or to see how you can contribute to this research project, click here.

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Nova Forest Alliance Presented Latest on Bicknell’s Thrush

1 December 2005 - Becky Whittam, BSC's Atlantic Canada Program Manager, presented a talk entitled, "Identifying and Conserving Bicknell's Thrush Habitat in Nova Scotia: A Species At Risk Case Study" at the Nova Forest Alliance's Species At Risk conference in Truro, NS. Becky's presentation discussed the results of the High Elevation Landbird Program in Nova Scotia over the past four years, BSC's research on pre-commercial thinning in New Brunswick, as well as BSC's recent work with Stora Enso and the Nova Forest Alliance designed to characterize Bicknell's Thrush habitat on Nova Scotia’s industrial forest land using on-the-ground surveys and stand-based information. For more information on the Nova Forest Alliance, click here.

PEI Birders Provide Input to Wind Farm Study

28 November 2005 - BSC Atlantic staff members met with a group of Prince Edward Island birders and naturalists in Vernon River, PEI to discuss a proposed wind farm at East Point, PEI. BSC staff were interested in gathering birding records from local birders as part of a study they are conducting for the PEI Energy Corps on potential impacts of wind turbines on birds at East Point.

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