Birds of a Feather

Cool Tips for a Hot Planet

When we built our house on the Nonquon River in the late ‘80s, we tuned into the trills and visual thrills of the birds around us. Vireos, finches, woodpeckers. We put out feeders and then recorded what we saw. A particular delight was the robin-sized yellow, black and white evening grosbeaks – spring visitors throughout that first decade.

We haven’t noticed them much in recent years. Maybe we weren’t looking hard enough. Or is it because the bird is one of several dozen listed as a species at risk in Ontario?

A 2019 North American study found the birds we love are vanishing – almost 30 per cent, or three billion birds, since 1970. That’s especially true for flying insect eaters like swallows, vireos and flycatchers, as well as shore birds and grassland birds.

One in three birds depend on our forests, and those treed areas are rapidly shrinking, which has decimated populations of warblers, flickers, cross-bills, and grosbeaks. Blue jays and chickadees are hanging in there.

We need these birds, not just for their beauty and their songs, but also because of everything they do for us. The grosbeak, for instance, has a particular hankering for spruce bud worm – that invasive tree-killing insect made worse by a hotter climate.

Forestry practices, industrial farming, pesticide use, climate change, roaming cats and rapidly shrinking insect populations are some of the reasons for birds disappearing from our backyards.

The good news? Conservation efforts work. Waterfowl numbers are up 150 per cent since 1970, thanks in part to habitat protection by organizations like Ducks Unlimited. And, helped by a ban on the pesticide DDT, our birds of prey have increased 110 percent. That’s a good thing because some are also scavengers, cleaning up those dead skunks in the middle of the road.

More good news came from an extensive 2016 American study that found the Endangered Species Act had been extraordinarily effective at increasing or stabilizing 85 per cent of threatened bird populations.

That’s less likely in Ontario. Our Endangered Species Act has been weakened even more by the Ontario government’s recent “Get it Done” act, in its drive to push housing and highways through the Greenbelt, wetlands and farmland.

A 20-year analysis of bird deaths in the U.S. found that “wind turbines did not have any measurable effect on bird counts.” Meanwhile the study, published in Environmental Science and Technology, found that oil and gas drilling reduced bird population counts by 15 per cent.

To help bird numbers soar again, Kawartha Lakes recently applied for (and received) Bird Friendly City certification from Nature Canada. It has partnered with local governments across the country, including Selwyn and Peterborough, to reduce threats, restore nature and educate about bird conservation.

We can flock together to help boost those numbers. How?

– Keep cats indoors. Roaming cats are responsible for millions of bird deaths annually in Canada.
– Plant native plants that attract native insects that feed our birds.
– Where possible, leave dead or dying trees and leaf litter, and let plants go to seed. You’ll give birds nesting holes and food, and shelter overwintering insects.
– Add stick-on window treatments that prevent bird strikes. Each year about 25 million birds die in Canada colliding with glass.
– Keep outdoor lights out during peak bird migration, April 15-June 15. They disorient birds.