Birds at risk in Canada’s conservation effort

Experts say Canada’s bird conservation efforts fall short

By Zoe Chong, Colleen Jones and Nicholas Galipeau

Robert Alvo points his binoculars at a mallard duck as it shuffles across a frozen Mud Lake in Ottawa. The lake’s diverse habitat makes it a hotspot for migratory birds, attracting nature-lovers and birders across Ottawa.

Alvo, a conservation biologist and bird expert, considers the area one of the top two birding spots in Ottawa.

“Right here within several hundred meters from where we’re standing we’ve got maybe 10 different habitats. So within a very small area, it’s amazing what we have in terms of diversity of habitats. And when you have diversity of habitats, you get diversity of birds,” Alvo says.

Mud Lake, a major waterfowl habitat, is one of over 600 designated Important Bird Areas in Canada under BirdLife International—an international bird conservation network.

In the past few decades, populations of many aerial insectivore birds have declined due to habitat destruction, significantly decreasing Ottawa’s bird populations.

Michael Runtz, a Carleton biology professor and naturalist, says Canada is lacking in strong protection laws for endangered species.

In an attempt to shed light about bird conservation efforts, Alvo recently published a book called Being a Bird in North America (BABINA). Using a combination of well-researched species accounts and cartoon illustrations, Alvo’s book highlights different aspects of a wide array of birds in hopes of getting people interested in nature by understanding it.

“It’s only the second book that I know of that shows a map of the world showing the species range for each species. A lot of the books we have, particularly the field guides to the birds of North America, just show that part of North America. But by showing a map of the world, you get an idea of [breeding and migration patterns],” Alvo says.

Migratory Birds Convention celebrates 100 years 

 

This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the Migratory Birds Convention—an agreement signed by the U.S. and Canada to protect bird habitats in North America.

“It was a critical time in terms of a lot of bird species and their populations having a chance to come back. But even right now, it’s very important that that law stay around because it’s probably the most important law pertaining to the protection of birds that we have in North America.”

“It’s not just a local or provincial or national matter. It’s a global matter because birds are global inhabitants and use the globe freely.” – Michael Runtz

Alvo says birds were being killed at immense rates—species like the passenger pigeon went extinct—and the convention helped to change how people were treating birds.

Jody Allair, a biologist and science educator for Bird Studies Canada, says while some groups of birds like waterfowl have become conservation success stories, air insectivore populations are decreasing at an alarming rate.

“What we’re dealing with now aren’t birds that are all of a sudden just about to disappear that are quite rare and almost extinct. Now we’re dealing with significant population declines—upwards of 70 per cent over 30 years. So you’re still seeing these birds, there are just 70 per cent less of them than there were 30 years ago,” he says.

Awareness is key

 

Allair says the big challenge ahead is making people aware that there are new groups of birds in decline. “We need to apply those [conservation] successes and those lessons learned now to a whole new suite of species and find ways to figure out what’s causing those declines and how we’re going to help these birds.”

Michael Runtz, a Carleton biology professor and naturalist, says Canada is lacking in strong protection laws for endangered species.

“There’s not much protection in reality for any species at risk in Ontario whether it’s a bird a mammal or a plant. They can be classified as a species at risk but what real protection there is for them I would say is very limited and not sufficient,” Runtz says.

“There are some activities in [Mud Lake] that aren’t conducive to conservation. For example, people are feeding the ducks and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is causing ducks to go on the road and actually approach people looking for handouts, so it’s altering their behaviour,” Runtz says.

Another problem with conservation efforts, Runtz says, is that when it comes to migratory birds, it’s not just the nesting habitat that you have to protect; it’s also corridors en-route and their migratory destinations in Central and South America.

“It’s not just a local or provincial or national matter. It’s a global matter because birds are global inhabitants and use the globe freely.”

Runtz says he doesn’t see a very bright future for birds unless we change our lifestyle and have lower demands on the environment.

“There’s a constant erosion of habitat for birds and as long as that keeps on going then we’ll have fewer birds, simple as that.”