Christmas Bird Count Is Near!

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season is less than two weeks away. Beginning on December 14th and continuing through January 5th, about 12,000 Canadian bird lovers will be combing the wintry woods, counting everything they see and hear. There are almost 400 counts held across the country, each done on a single …

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Finches of the Boreal Forest

No, unfortunately I haven’t been travelling to the boreal forest. This is a guest post from Janet Plante, who lives in the boreal and will be writing monthly blog posts for Bird Canada. Some of the birds she regularly gets on her property throughout the year will make southern bird …

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Project Feeder Watch 2011

Backyard birdwatchers across Canada are invited to take part in the 25th season of Project FeederWatch, from November 12 through April 6. With each season, FeederWatch increases in importance as a unique and indispensable monitoring tool for more than 100 bird species that winter in North America. Last year, over …

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Whooping Crane Wednesday

Last weekend, a small group of local birders were lucky enough to meet North America’s tallest birds in person. Whooping cranes stand about 1.5 m (5 ft) tall. Their wingspan is 2 m (6.5 ft) or more between the tips of their long black flight feathers. At close range, adult …

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Tracking Sable Island Gulls

In the spring of 2011, an Acadia University research team led by Dr. Phil Taylor, Bird Studies Canada Chair in Ornithology, captured Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls during the breeding season to fit them with electronic tags and mark them with coloured wing and leg bands. The purpose is to …

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Aiming For The Wallets

Alberta’s disappearing sage grouse continue to make the headlines. Billboard campaigns are revving up, and more people are paying attention. A lot of people are at the wringing of hands stage, saying but what can we do? Based on past experience, it’s obvious we can’t rely on either the federal …

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