February Photo of the Month: White-tailed Deer

This brown-eyed beauty, photographed at Les Isles de Boucherville National Park, was sent to us by Claudine Besse. Thank you for sharing this photo with us, Claudine!

White-tailed deer are the smallest members of the North American deer family, inhabiting parts of southern Canada and most of the United States.

These herbivores feed on many types of plants, from corn and leaves to fungi and lichen. During the cold winter months they prefer to seek shelter in coniferous forests, which provide cover from the harsh elements.

Their name comes from the white underside of their tail – a flash of white from a raised tail signals danger is close by.

Do you love this photo? Put it on your desktop!

And why not share your photo with us for the chance to be featured as Nature Canada's photo of the month.

Connect with Nature: Where Does Maple Syrup Come From?

Sap drips from the tree
Photo by Hamilton Conservation Authority via Flickr

If you're lucky enough to live in maple syrup country, it's the time of year to get ready to visit your favourite sugar bush or cabane à sucre. How does maple syrup connect with nature? Because it comes from trees, of course!

Discover the weather conditions needed to make the sap run (mild days and cool nights). Spend an afternoon finding out just how tree sap becomes lovely golden syrup. And once you're done tromping around in the bush, don't forget to indulge in a fresh, sweet treat!

Most sugar bush properties run family programming on weekends from mid-February through mid-March, with additional activities planned during the March Break, but make sure to check ahead before you go.

As the seasons turn from Winter to Spring, take the time to get to know a Canadian icon -- the Maple tree -- a bit better.

Protecting Nature Important to Canadians: Ipsos Reid Poll

Canadians care deeply about their natural spaces and wildlife, according to a recent Ipsos Reid poll. 

The poll found that 75% of Canadians surveyed “feel that preserving natural areas and the variety of native plant and animal life in Canada is important to them.” Nearly one quarter said it was important to protect at-risk wildlife and habitat, and 20% said it was important to ensure Canadian bodies of water stay clean.

The poll also revealed another interesting fact. At the very core of Canadian’s strong support for protecting and conserving nature is the effect nature has on our sense of well-being. It turns out we’re happier when we’re in nature. 

Ipsos Reid found that 87% of Canadians feel happier when they’re in nature or feel connected to nature. Of the people surveyed:

·         44% hike to experience the outdoors

·         34% play an outdoor sport

·         28% spend time at the cottage

Among younger Canadians (aged 18-34), camping is the number one activity that gets them outdoors. Older Canadians prefer hiking as a way to experience nature.

And it looks like voters for our own Nature Canada Quick Poll feel the same good vibes in nature – 92% say they are happiest when experiencing nature. The poll is still open – cast your vote here.

Supporting Communities and Conservation in the Dominican Republic

Children take a tour of a nursery in Oviedo

After visiting Formon near Macaya National Park in Haiti last week, our director of conservation, Mara Kerry, has spent the last few days visiting our partner, Grupo Jaragua, in the Dominican Republic.

Grupo Jaragua is working to promote sustainable livelihoods with the support of Nature Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency, just like our Haitian partner, Haiti Audubon Society, is doing in Haiti. As Canadian co-partners in BirdLife International, we are committed to working across borders for birds and people.

Grupo Jaragua’s work is centered on the community of Oviedo in southwestern Dominican Republic, and is aimed at improving the lives of people in the community while ensuring the conservation of the Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo Biosphere Reserve.

The Reserve is critically important for many endemic species of plants, birds and other animals in the Caribbean. The Bicknell's Thrush – an at-risk bird species facing habitat loss across its range – spends the winter in the Reserve, and many more migratory birds depend on the forests of Haiti and the Dominican Republic as safe wintering grounds and stop-over sites.

Here's what Mara had to say about her visit:

Upon my arrival in Oviedo, I was met by a large group including staff, volunteers and members of the local mothers', children's and livestock producers' groups. Many of the volunteers were the beneficiaries of the summer camps for children that Grupo Jaragua has been running in the area for years. As young adults, they are determined to make a difference and advance sustainable development and conservation.

One young man testified that he used to hunt wild animals and plants in the Jaragua-Bahoruco-Enriquillo Biosphere Reserve. Since participating in the workshops of Grupo Jaragua, he has changed his behavior – he has stopped hunting. He understands the unique value of the plants and animals in the region and that some are endangered and is now trying to influence his own family stop hunting. He would like his uncles in particular to stop hunting and learn to care for the forests and its animals. Another young man was inspired by the workshops to go to university to study biology so that he can contribute to his country's growth towards sustainability.

Grupo Jaragua has also been instrumental in building tree nurseries in Oviedo. I had the chance to pay them a visit – they’re really cool!

A volunteer inspects the trees inside a tree nursery in Oviedo.

The nurseries only use native plants. Grupo Jaragua is piloting several agroforestry plots with some of these native species, which also have an economic value to the community.

A volunteer waters a seedling planted as part of an agroforestry project in Oviedo.

Here’s the plan for these pilot projects: in the canopy there will be trees that can provide fuel for cooking, fruit, and wood for crafts and furniture. The really neat thing about this is that these resources can be harvested from just the branches – the tree does not need to be cut down.

In the understory, there will be trees that provide food, such as fruit, for the community. One tree in particular produces a berry that the people of Oviedo use to make the local wine which can be sold for a good price. Another is a shrub-like plant whose leaves can be used to make tea and the bark to make a perfume that is popular here and in Haiti. In addition, a local indigenous species of oregano can be grown along with crops like yuca and sweet potato.

Five families in the area are experimenting with agroforestry practices on their own land. And they haven’t stopped there – they are also experimenting with "live fences" that can produce food for animals (goats and cattle) in a sustainable manner.

Grupo Jaragua has also helped build the community centre where it hosts workshops on sustainable resource use and climate change adaptation practices. These workshops are open to everyone in the community, and as a result, more people know more about climate change, birds conservation and agroforestry. The building itself is wonderful and the main hall is used by the community for everything from the workshops to local weddings, birthdays and even funerals. In addition, the centre provides a source of income. The cabins can be rented out to visitors, technical experts and for other community events.

I’m very encouraged by what I’ve seen during my visit. The people of Oviedo have really embraced the idea of integrating sustainable practices into their daily lives and we’re thrilled to be part of that change. This would not be possible without the work of our partner, Grupo Jaragua. We are very proud to support this work. Projects in communities like Oviedo are making a tangible difference to people’s lives and it is our hope that they will continue to receive the support they need to build a better future.

Join the 14th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count

Tree Sparrow, Shirley's Bay, Ontario. Photo: Roy John

From February 18 to 21, novice and expert birders will be counting birds for the 14th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). Join thousands of Canadians and Americans this year in counting birds in your backyard, local park or along a nature trail.

For the second year in a row, Bird Studies Canada, our Birdlife International partner, will be leading the Canadian GBBC, encouraging birders of all ages and levels of experience to enjoy the outdoors while contributing to science. By filling out a checklist and submitting it on the new Canadian GBBC website, you will be helping scientists gather the data needed to understand how birds are faring across the continent. Last year, 6,700 Canadians submitted their checklists online, accounting for 579,121 individual bird observations.

All it takes is 15 minutes to record the birds in your area – it’s also an easy, fun way to become familiar with your local bird species.

The GBBC is coordinated annually by the Cornell Ornithology Lab, Audubon, and Bird Studies Canada, typically recording more than 10 million observations. For tips, instructions, photos and maps from last year’s count, visit http://www.birdcount.org/.  

Wolfe Island Wind Plant Still Harming Birds in Important Bird Area

Last May, I blogged about a report that described how birds and bats have been affected by the TransAlta wind plant on Wolfe Island, a globally significant Important Bird Area in southern Ontario known for its waterfowl, raptors and swallows. I called the numbers of birds and bats being killed by TransAlta’s turbines “shockingly high,” indeed the highest recorded in Canada and one of the highest in North America.

However, since the report only studied a six month period, TransAlta’s spokespeople argued that it was premature to reach conclusions so soon, especially when comparing the Wolfe Island deaths to yearly casualty rates for other wind plants. Besides, TransAlta reasoned, the results appeared to be within the thresholds of acceptable limits set by provincial and federal government regulators.

Then last month, Stantec Consulting, the firm that produced the original report, released its report on the second half of the year: January 1, 2010 to July 1, 2010. And the results for birds are troubling. (I’ll write about bats in a future post.) Though casualty numbers for birds did not skyrocket in the second sixth month period, a time that included the spring migration, they still were high enough to make the Wolfe Island wind plant the most deadly for birds in Canada.

The 13.4 birds per turbine casualty rate is about 7 times the industry average in Canada according to Canadian Wind Energy Association (CANWEA) but below the so-called “adaptive management” threshold for TransAlta facility, as set by various government agencies. That level is 11.7 birds per MW which translates to 21 birds per turbine, which just happens to be the highest level ever recorded at any wind facility in North America (Buffalo Mountain, Tennessee). Using the highest level recorded as the threshold before which any mitigation is even considered seems a bit dubious to say the least.

Estimated and actual numbers of birds killed, proportioned by the species actually found, over the entire 12 month period, paints a disturbing picture:
Tree Swallow 218 (calculation based on 31 corpses)
Purple Martin 49 (calculation based on 7 corpses)
Bobolink 73 (calculation based on 9 corpses)
Wilson’s Snipe 50 (calculation based on 7 corpses)
Red-tailed Hawk 10 (actual count)

It is important to note that the calculated numbers are arrived at using Stantec’s formula to calculate total casualty rates. A sample of turbines are visited either weekly or twice a week and a search for bird corpses on the ground beneath the blades is conducted. As the method is not intended as a comprehensive search, determining the casualty rate requires taking in factors like the ability of the search team to find carcasses, the percentage of the area searched and the rate of predation between searches. The 31 Tree Swallow corpses, in other words, represent about 15% of the calculated number of tree swallows killed, based on Stantec’s calculations and field testing.

While the report and the research behind it appear to be quite solid, the authors contend that the casualty rates are quite sustainable and will not have any effect on the species populations. They do this by contrasting the kill numbers from the turbines with the estimated Ontario population of the most affected species – Tree Swallow, numbering about 400,000 and Bobolink, about 800,000. (They do not do this for Red-tailed Hawk, which in fact may not meet their sustainability criteria). They also contrasted the numbers with estimates of birds killed by other human activities or artifices such as tall buildings, vehicles, cell towers, and pets.

While this argument has gained considerable traction among some in the wind industry and even the scientific community, it fails to consider that the turbines at Wolfe Island are killing different species than the tall buildings, cats and cars. Tree Swallow, Purple Martin, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture and Bobolink rarely if ever show up on lists of casualties from tall buildings, and are unlikely victims of cats, with the possible exception of the Bobolink. And vehicle collisions, well – while this is a legitimate concern, Turkey Vultures have arguably had a net benefit from the carnage caused by vehicles.

But it is some of these very species – the ones most likely to be harmed by Wolfe Island’s turbines – that are already experiencing declines.

Take swallows, for example. Most species of swallow have declined significantly in Canada over the past 20 years. Adding additional threats to already stressed populations is not prudent. According to trend data on this species from Breeding Bird Survey routes in Ontario, the Tree Swallow has declined by about 6% annually over the past 20 years, a cumulative decline of almost 80%! In other words, the current estimated population of 400,000, was 2 million only 20 years ago. Bobolink, recently added to COSEWIC’s list of threatened species, declined 4.1% over the same period. We should not trivialize the impact of removing dozens, or hundreds of individuals from a population of species that are clearly in trouble.

In the meantime, good documentation of the impacts is essential. While TransAlta had to deliver these studies – they were a condition of the wind project’s approval – the company and Stantec should be recognized for doing good work. Once one takes the spin out of the document, the data and the methodologies are solid. The quality of the monitoring appears to be high, and some weaknesses, such as a potential bias to undercount the number of raptor fatalities, are recognized in the report.

With regard to birds of prey, even if they were not undercounted, the number of casualties is excessively high at .27 per turbine. This was the highest recorded rate for raptor kills outside of California. The victims included:

10 Red-tailed Hawks,
1 Northern Harrier,
1 Osprey,
2 American Kestrel,
1 Merlin
8 Turkey Vulture

This number crossed the “notification threshold” for the project, meaning that the CWS and MNR were notified about the high rates. The report states that TransAlta and MNR have initiated discussions regarding “adaptive management” in response to the raptor deaths. We look forward to hearing what the response might be.

With the plant already in operation, the only option now is to mitigate the risk to wildlife perhaps by slowing down the blades of the turbines at hazardous moments of the year, or turning them off. However, unless the numbers of casualties increase even further in the next two years, it is unclear how far the threshold must be exceeded and how often, before mitigation is implemented. It is reported in the document that four notifications were made by the company to the government for raptors alone, yet none appears to have led to mitigation.

As I write this, several wind farms are being proposed around the eastern end of Lake Ontario, the most worrying being Gilead’s Ostrander Point wind farm. Ostrander Point is an area that is arguably even more significant for birds than Wolfe Island, because of its specific geography. Ironically, the land on which the Gilead project is being proposed is owned by the Province of Ontario – a Crown forest block. Opposition to turbines in agricultural areas appears to have persuaded government officials to meet their renewable energy agenda by prioritizing "crown lands" as locations for wind energy plants. While this might be appropriate and acceptable for some properties, when a wind plant is located in an area of great significance to wildlife, as is the case with Ostrander Point, so-called green energy ceases to be green at all. The Ontario government needs to think more carefully about where they allow wind turbines. It is not too late for the Province to design a policy that promotes green energy and also protects key biodiversity sites including Important Bird Areas. Otherwise, as more of these facilities are built in bad places, wind energy will become a significant contributor to the declines of several species that are already in trouble, and the Green Energy Act will be recognized and remembered for all of the wrong reasons.

2010 Photo of the Month Winners

Last year, we received many great submissions to Nature Canada's Photo of the Month contest - it was difficult to select the winning images!

We narrowed down the list to select one image for each month in the year. These12 winning Photos of the Month feature stunning images of huddled sea stars, ambling polar bears, hungry mocking birds and much more.

Want to learn more about these fabulous creatures? Read their profiles!

You can also download these images and use them as wallpaper on your computer.

We would like to thank everyone who submitted a photo in 2010 and encourage people to send us their images of wildlife and wild places in 2011.

Get images, news, stories, updates and more by subscribing to the Nature Canada enewsletter. Read Nature Canada's January 2011 enewsletter here.

Birders want wind energy, but not in IBAs

Near Long Point, Lake Erie, Ontario

In September and early October 2009, Nature Canada carried out a survey to explore Ontario birders perceptions of modern wind energy projects, or “wind farms,” and the impact of these installations on birds. The findings of the survey were published in the December 2010 issue of Ontario Birds, the journal of the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO).

Two hundred and sixty four birders from across Ontario and a few beyond completed an online survey. We found that Ontario birders reflect a fairly wide spectrum of interests, income and education, yet share similar concerns about climate change and global warming, and generally see wind energy as an important industry to combat this threat.

The vast majority of respondents (92%) consider it important to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. The concern for global warming appears to translate into strong support for wind energy from approximately 60% of respondents with only 20% not supporting wind energy. Despite the support for wind energy, approximately 60% of the respondents believe that wind energy impacts birds, and an even stronger proportion (70%) believe that wind projects have no place in Important Bird Areas or in avian migratory corridors.

However, we also found that most birders recognize that wind energy in the wrong place can pose a threat to bird populations. The wrong place, in ranked order according to survey participants, includes Migratory Bird Sanctuaries (MBSs), Important Bird Areas (IBAs), National Wildlife Areas (NWAs) and parks. Some birders – over one-third of those sampled – also said they would be discouraged from visiting the iconic birding locations of Point Pelee or Prince Edward Point if wind farms were built near them.

Near Shelburne, Ontario

Nature Canada’s survey comes at a critical time for the future of wind energy in Ontario – with the recent passing of the Ontario Green Energy Act, the number of wind installations in the province will increase dramatically. Wind energy producers are eyeing any location with wind, which of course includes many areas that are well-known for the significance for birds.

In June 2010, the province proposed draft regulations to open up the development of “off-shore” wind farms. The proposed regulations included a five kilometre buffer around all of the Great Lakes shorelines and major islands to protect water intakes as well as important cultural and natural features and functions.

The province already has a mishmash of policies and regulations that can best be described as a “work in progress.” They reflect the conflicting priorities of government agencies, and a continual pressure to adapt to growing local opposition to wind plants, while supporting and promoting the tenets of the Green Energy Act. Once finalized, these regulations will be part of the approvals process of the Green Energy Act, and are designed to lift many of the bureaucratic barriers to developing green energy projects such as wind farms.

Assessment of impacts of wind energy installations has focused on bird mortality, and more recently bat mortality, caused principally by collision with turbine blades. Concerns have also been raised about loss of habitat from installations, which could reduce breeding productivity or reduce survival if birds are displaced from habitat by the presence and construction of turbines, and by the movement of maintenance vehicles, and by the disruption of flight routes caused by avoidance of wind plants.

Gilead Power Corporation, a privately owned wind energy developer, has proposed a wind energy installation, the Ostrander Point Wind Energy Park, inside the globally significant Prince Edward County South Shore IBA near Kingston Ontario, and on provincial Crown land that is also a candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest.

The wind park is only a few kilometers from the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area, the only NWA specifically recognized for its importance for migrating landbirds. Environment Canada has described the site where the turbines are proposed as “one of the best areas for birds in southern Ontario.”

For us at Nature Canada, the Gilead project is a good example of a wind energy project that is being proposed in the wrong place – in fact the worst possible place in terms of risk to birds. If approved, we believe the project is likely to have significant impacts on a very rich breeding bird community and on migratory birds that depend on Ostrander Point’s natural habitats.

Nature Canada, and our Provincial Partner Ontario Nature, strongly oppose the project and have urged the Province and Gilead to withdraw it, but so far to no avail.

Across the country, Nature Canada is calling on federal and provincial governments to ensure wind energy projects do not come at the expense of this country’s birds and other wildlife.While it appears so far that most projects have a very minimal impact on bird populations, in the wrong place, projects could be disastrous.

We are already seeing evidence of this at TransAlta’s Wolf Island Turbines, where casualty rates as much as 10 times that of most other wind plants have been documented, with birds of prey such as the Red-tailed Hawk and aerial insectivores like swallows appearing to be particularly vulnerable.

To get wind power right in Canada, we are urging governments to enact policies and regulations that ensure the following:

• Wind turbines and wind farms should not be located in Important Bird Areas or other areas with particular significance to congregating, migrating or breeding birds.

• All wind farm proposals should be subject to an environmental assessment prior to development to assess their impact on all wildlife, including birds and bats.

• Any wind farms that already exist within migratory corridors or bottlenecks should be subject to the best practices for mitigating their impacts on birds, especially during migration season.

Join Nature Canada in calling on the Government of Canada to enact wildlife-friendly green energy policies – sign the petition to get wind power right!

Read more about Nature Canada’s position on wind energy development.

Nature Canada would like to thank OFO for supporting and publishing “What birders in Ontario think about wind energy in relation to birds”, by Nature Canada’s Ted Cheskey and Ahmed Zedan.

Our bird conservation efforts in the James Bay and Hudson Bay region are supported by The Ivey Foundation.

Connect with Nature: Visit a Natural History Museum

On my trip to the Museum of Nature,
I got to see frogs from around
the world. Photo by J. Desilets.

If the winter weather is too cold or snowy for you to get outside and explore nature, it's the perfect time to head to your local natural history museum! Natural history museums showcase Canada's rich and diverse natural history from coast to coast to coast. They preserve the past so that we can gain insights into the possible future. And they allow us to discover aspects of Canadian nature that we might not otherwise have a chance to see.

A giant sea turtle skeleton swims through
the air at the museum. Photo by J. Desilets.

I've been lucky enough to visit the newly renovated Museum of Nature in Ottawa twice in the past six months. The historical building has four floors (plus a basement!) full of natural history treasures from Canada. Separated by theme, each gallery tells a story about nature in Canada; whether your interest is birds, marine life, mammals, insects or geology you're sure to find something interesting in their many displays and interactive exhibits. My favourite gallery is still the dinosaurs, since new discoveries are still being made that help us learn about how animals evolved.

Plan your next trip to a museum near you! (If you're not sure where to start, try the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada.)

Our top tips for museum visits:

The RBC Blue Water gallery at the museum
features a live tank of starfish and other
sea life. Photo by J. Lim.

• Leave yourself plenty of time to explore the museum. Depending on the size of the exhibits and your specific interests, you want the chance to see everything without feeling rushed. At the Museum of Nature, we budgeted about an hour per floor (30 minutes per gallery).
• Wear comfortable shoes. If you'll be walking around for even a couple of hours, you don't want to have to stop because your feet are sore. If you're planning a family trip with younger children, make sure to space out energy-intensive activities with some quieter periods for rest.
• Know the museum guidelines about outside food and drink. Most museums will have designated areas where you can sit and eat your lunch or a snack. Make sure to find these on your map and plan your route accordingly.
• Bring your camera. Many museums will allow you to take pictures of the exhibits. Since so many of the experiences are interactive, you will be able to bring home some great memories!
• On a budget? Check to see if there are periods of discounted or free entry to your local natural history museum. In Ottawa, it's also possible to borrow a museum pass from the public library (that's how I was able to go).

Remember to share your own natural history museum experiences with us in the comments below!

Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods in Haiti’s Macaya National Park

Haitian children attend a school rebuilt by Nature Canada and its Partners

Nature Canada’s Director of Conservation, Mara Kerry, is on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola this week to pay a visit to Nature Canada's conservation and development projects in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

We've been working with our BirdLife partner in Haiti, Haitian Audubon Society, on an integrated conservation and development project supported by the Canadian International Development Agency.

One of our projects has involved rebuilding the local school in Formon, hiring teachers and providing free education to the children of parents who adopt sustainable forest management practices.

Mara took the time to send us this video clip of her visit to Formon, in which the children thank Audubon and Nature Canada.



The community of Formon is on the edge of Macaya National Park, an important wintering habitat for Canadian migratory birds like the Bicknell’s Thrush, a secretive and threatened songbird that breeds in Atlantic Canada. Threats to the songbird, which has declined in Maritime Canada (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) by 15% annually over the last two decades, include atmospheric pollution, climate change and loss or degradation of its forest habitats.

The project provides an incentive – children attend school for free if their parents agree to stop cutting down the forest and help with reforestation – for the community to adopt sustainable forest management practices which relieve pressure on important habitat for migratory birds. Over 80% of the parents have agreed, and for second year in a row, the school has offered hope for 300 girls and boys.  

Our work is also supporting projects that help bring water to the community, freeing up hours of daily excursions to collect water, which is mostly done by girls in the community.



In addition, four tree nurseries have been established for agroforestry and reforestation of areas of the Macaya National Park that have been degraded. The park is one of few small patches of forest remaining in Haiti. The forest plays a critical role in supporting the surrounding communities – the forest provides clean water and clean air, prevents erosion and helps mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Supported by BirdLife and Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act (NMBCA) grants, these projects improve the lives of the people of Formon while protecting and conserving Haitian forests and migratory birds. They are part of a coordinated effort to conserve areas across a bird's entire hemispheric range - the only truly effective way to conserve migratory bird populations like the Bicknell's Thrush.

We will be hearing from Mara as she visits the Dominican Republic next week, so stay tuned!

Injured Birds: How Can You Help?

Helene Van Doninck releases a barred owl. Photo: Sherry Martell

 Helene Van Doninck is a veterinarian at the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. The CWRC is a not for profit charitable organization dedicated to providing veterinary care to sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. Helene took the time to share her extensive experience caring for injured birds with us in this post:

Have you ever been in a situation where you have discovered a bird in distress and wished there was something you could do to help? 

Luckily, you can help if you contact a wildlife rehabilitation centre where volunteers dedicate their time and skills to helping injured, orphaned and sick birds. As a wildlife veterinarian who operates such a centre, I deal with people who want to help birds that they find, but need some advice and assistance. I give the best advice and care that I can and stress that it is important to bring injured animals to trained individuals, as they often need medical care.

Injured birds can be captured and transported using common objects. 

While some of the larger birds can be more dangerous to handle and require special advice (raptors, loons, herons are some examples), most birds can be captured by dropping a towel or blanket over them and scooping them into a plain cardboard box. Remember to poke air holes in the top section of the box, tape it securely and place a towel or other secure footing on the bottom of the box to prevent the bird from sliding on a slippery surface during transport.

Rehabilitation centres are busiest during the spring and summer months when young birds are fledging, but winter months come with their own perils. Our most common reasons for winter admissions include birds that are: 

• Hit by cars or have had some other type of trauma
• Injured from striking a window
• Victims of cat predation
• Poisoned by lead
• Oiled
• In a starvation state often due to extreme weather conditions.

Spring and summer admissions include all of the above admission reasons as well as animals that are: 

• Orphaned or presumed orphaned
• Contaminated with oil, poisoned, or trapped,
• Victims of gunshot, electrocution, and entrapment.

Rehabilitation centres often will admit all native species unless they specialize in certain groups. At the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre we will admit all bird species, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. We do have special expertise and interest in raptors, seabirds, and oiled wildlife and our caseload and species diversity changes every year. For instance, in 2010, our most common patients were bald eagles, closely followed by other species of raptors, songbirds, and seabirds. 

One of our most recent success stories was the rescue of a barred owl that had been trapped in a coil of wire in a barn for several days in bitter cold before being discovered by the property owner. We received this bird in a weak, dehydrated and semi-comatose state. It needed several days of intensive medical care, but once it survived the initial problem, it simply needed to be fed properly and housed in a safe environment until it was strong and ready for release. It was returned to home territory last week and released in the grateful presence of the finder. 

Photos 4-6 courtesy of Sherry Martell

This week brought us a young red-tailed hawk that was hit by a car and received a broken leg, a head injury and some eye damage. The head and eye will heal in time, but the leg is now sporting four metal pins that were placed during a two hour surgery this afternoon. The implants will stay in place until the bone heals. After the pins are removed, the bird will undergo rehabilitation until we are sure it is in the best state possible for release into the wild.

While not every bird brought into our care has such a happy ending, it’s these type of cases that keep us  motivated to continue helping birds in distress every day.

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Source: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Today is the 40th anniversary of World Wetlands Day, which marks the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran.

Forty years ago today, 18 countries met to establish the Ramsar Convention. Since then it has grown to include160 member countries. Their work has resulted in 1, 912 wetlands of international importance, a.k.a Ramsar Sites. To date, this covers an area greater than 186 million hectares. In Canada there are a total of 37 Ramsar Sites covering more than 13 million hectares. Their designation as Ramsar Sites does not entitle them to national legal protection, unless they are within established protected areas.

A news release issued by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, eloquently outlines the vital role wetlands play in maintaining a healthy and thriving planet:

“They include lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes, swamps, peat bogs, beaches, reefs, mangrove forests … and more. There is no doubt that wetlands are among the world’s richest ecosystems, supporting all humankind in various ways – by providing freshwater, supporting fisheries including aquaculture, helping to regulate the water cycle, providing flood and storm protection, supporting some of the world’s most stunning biodiversity, playing a significant role in climate change mitigation and adaptation, providing sustainable livelihoods to some of the world’s poorest people, and offering a place to ‘play’ for those of us with leisure time. Wetlands are indeed more than just a muddy swamp – many economists looking at the ecosystem services they deliver put their value higher than for any other ecosystem. Yet wetlands continue to be destroyed to make way for inland and coastal developments and degraded through poor water allocation decisions, pollution, and excessive water extraction.”

The slogan for World Wetlands Day 2011 is “Forests for Water and Wetlands”, which unites this celebration with the United Nations declaration of 2011 as the International Year of Forests. The purpose of this year's theme is to highlight the benefits that forested wetlands have to offer, how forests (wet and dry) play a role in our lives and how they’re important for the functioning of wetlands.

World Wetlands Day is a great opportunity for governments, NGOs and citizens to take action to raise awareness of the global importance of wetlands and the critical role they play in our well-being. To view activities taking place during WWD click here.

Bringing the World’s Forests Into Focus: 2011 International Year of Forests

In an effort to raise awareness on the sustainable development and management of forests, the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2011 the International Year of Forests.

Why are forests important enough to warrant a  global campaign?

Quite simply, the world’s forests are essential to life on this planet.

For starters, the majority of the earth’s biodiversity lives in forests. Since Canada is home to 10% of the world’s forests – forests cover half the Canadian landscape – we have a key role to play in the global effort to conserve and sustainably manage forests. 


As the “lungs of the earth”, forests absorb carbon dioxide, reducing the effects of climate change. Among other things, forests provide wildlife with a place to live, reduce sedimentation and regulate flooding, and help people reduce their energy consumption by shading buildings and screening winds.

To celebrate International Year of Forests, Nature Canada and other conservation groups will be promoting dialogue on forests and engaging people in forest activities.

We’ll be following all things related to International Year of Forests on Twitter and Facebook, and providing interesting forest facts and forest ecosystem profiles on our Nature Canada blog and enewsletter throughout the year.

We're already involved in conserving and restoring forest ecosystems in Canada, particularly in the Boreal Forest. At 1.3 billion acres, the Canadian Boreal Forest is one of the largest intact forest and wetland ecosystems remaining on earth.

We support the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework, an alliance of conservation groups, First Nations, and leading Canadian companies whose aim is to protect 50% of the region and support sustainable practices in local communities.


To that end, Nature Canada worked with First Nations and governments at all three levels to establish the Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve, which was announced in February 2010. This Park Reserve, along with an adjacent provincial park, caps a 15-year effort and will protect roughly 13,000 km2 of boreal forest habitat. The permanent protection of such a large area of boreal forest ensures at-risk species like the woodland caribou and the harlequin duck have the habitat they need to survive.

We're continuing to participate in discussions about the final park boundaries to ensure that wildlife is protected.

As the boreal forest extends as far north as the Northwest Territories, so have our conservation efforts. We are working to protect the Edéhzhíe National Wildlife Area by advocating for the reinstatement of interim protection for Edéhzhíe's subsurface lands. You can join our campaign to protect this globally significant stopover point for Tundra Swan and Greater White-fronted Goose.

We're also working with James Bay Cree to protect migratory birds of the Ontario and Quebec boreal region, by identifying shared conservation priorities around birds and Important Bird Areas. It's a natural relationship, since we share a common interest with many of the communities in protecting these areas - the habitat and ecosystem conservation that we are seeking acts to conserve an important part of their culture. Protecting and monitoring Important Bird Areas is the cornerstone of bird conservation in forest ecosystems like those in the James Bay region. 

We have also worked to protect critical forest habitat for endangered species, such as the Woodland caribou. Since leading a coalition of groups who worked to establish Canada’s Species at Risk Act, we've been hard at work ensuring that wildlife protection laws are fully in effect.

Beyond our national boundaries, we've extended our reach to include a project in Haiti that provides an incentive – free education for elementary-school-aged children – for communities in the Macaya National Park to adopt sustainable forest management practices. In this way, the school offered hope for 300 girls and boys while providing incentives to relieve pressure on important habitat for Canadian migratory birds like the Bicknell’s Thrush.

For its part, the UN is providing a series of communications initiatives and materials, which include a website, logo, film and art competitions, exhibits and promotional multimedia projects. Its goal, among others, is to “Promote observance of the Year not as an isolated event but as part of a continuing process of advocacy and partnership to foster greater awareness and action towards sustainable forest management at all levels.”

Forests are important around the world. Here are a few reasons why:

• 30% of forests are used for production of wood and non-wood
  products.
• Forests cover 31% of total land area.
• The livelihoods of over 1.6 billion people depend on forests.
• Primary forests account for 36% of forest area.
• Trade in forest products was estimated at $327 billion in 2004.
• Forests are home to 300 million people around the world.
• Forests are home to 80% of our terrestrial biodiversity.