Sneak preview

by Victoria Foote

This issue of ON Nature contains a unique story: a first look at the results of five intense years of data collection to produce the second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, to be published in late 2007. Twenty years ago, Ontario Nature was one of only two sponsors for the initial atlas – the other was Long Point Bird Observatory. This atlas was an enormously ambitious undertaking and the first of its kind in Ontario. Data was collected from 1981 to 1985 and compiled into a single, massive book that revealed bird distributions throughout the province.

The second atlas was possibly even more ambitious in scope – this time Ontario Nature was one of five sponsors. Thousands of volunteer “twitchers” fanned out across Ontario in search of birds that were breeding and raising young. The staggering amount of information produced was meticulously compiled and analyzed, not only yielding a comprehensive picture of current bird distributions, but also indicating changes in those distributions, along with population trends that reveal increases and decreases for species.

Such revelations are another first. With the gathering of data in preparation for the second atlas, comparisons between surveys could now be made and conclusions drawn. Some species are doing well; others are not. Grassland species – bobolinks, eastern meadowlarks – are in decline as are insect-eating birds (aerial foragers) such as swallows and martins, possibly as a result of habitat loss and increased pesticide use. On the other hand, raptors such as hawks, eagles and owls have increased. So have thrushes and many migratory warblers.

Population trends in bird species also tell us something about the habitats that birds prefer. Of all the regions in the province, the Carolinian zone in southern Ontario appears to be the most degraded. Atlas results show decreases for numerous neotropical migratory species and waterbirds that breed in this region, one species (the common moorhen) by as much as 38 percent.

The breeding bird atlas is not just an invaluable resource for dedicated birders. It is of value to anyone concerned with our bird life and the integrity of the ecosystems it depends on.

Contributors

Toronto-based photographer Ian Brown, whose pictures appear in “The magic of mushrooms”, hiked through a Simcoe County forest last September, snapping shots of mushrooms and guide Bob Bowles. Like many who go for a walk in the woods with Bowles, Brown got more than he bargained for. “He’s like an onion,” says Brown of Bowles. “He is so unassuming but when you peel back the layers you find this adventurous and worldly person. And he’s a perfect tour guide because his enthusiasm is infectious.” Having no previous mushroom hunting experience, Brown says he was most impressed by the vibrancy created in an overcast woodland in fall. Brown’s photographs have also appeared in Cottage Life and Saturday Night. He is currently working on a book of portraits titled American Dreams, which will be published in September 2008.

Peter Christie, a science writer and frequent contributor to ON Nature, worked as a summer student for the first Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario in the early 1980s. For his feature, “The birder’s bible”, Christie revisited the world of birding and pored over new data that will appear in the soon to be published atlas. “The initial atlas picture of where birds live in Ontario was thrilling to see,” says Christie, “but the second atlas goes one step further: it shows these birds in a remarkable state of change – it has brought that first static picture to life.” Christie is the author of two animal behaviour books for children, Well-Schooled Fish and Feathered Bandits and Naturally Wild Musicians. His book about past climate change and human history will be published this spring by Annick Press.