Threats to birds, and how you can help birds in your own backyard
Prothonotary warbler (Photo by Bill Hubick)
In spring, we welcome the return of migratory birds to Canada to breed. A few billion birds from over 400 species breed in Canada each year. Before we know it, young birds will be leaving their nests, awkwardly learning to navigate the world...
World Wildlife Day: Restoration to support species at risk recovery
Bobolink, Prairie Smoke Nature Reserve, Carden Alvar, ON (Photo by NCC)
I’m a casual birder. I like to take my binoculars with me when I’m out in nature, but I’m not usually one to go out chasing after rare birds. Still, there is one species that I can’t believe I haven’t seen before:...
Learning to love wetlands
Crossing bogs in Algonquin Park to study Canada jays (Photo by Sam Knight/NCC staff)
For a few years I looked forward to February because it was the start of the Canada jay research season at Algonquin Park and I assisted with the field work. At that time of year, we crossed frozen bogs to check up on the birds, yet the spring...
Seeing hope and opportunity in 2022, naturally. My conservation resolution to protect nature in Canada
Belly River Ranch, AB (Photo by Brent Calver)
Across Canada, people have been ramping up their efforts to protect our planet. In 2021, Indigenous communities, donors, land owners and all levels of government came together with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) to protect more than 200...
World Habitat Day 2021: There is no protected habitat too small to benefit biodiversity
Great blue heron with a cityscape in the background (Photo by iStock)
October 4 is World Habitat Day, which has been celebrated annually by the United Nations since 1986. This year’s theme is accelerating urban climate action. The day is followed by Urban October, a month where we are encouraged to reflect on...
A call to action: The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
A restored wetland in Norfolk, ON (Photo by NCC)
Earlier this June, on World Environment Day, the United Nations kicked off the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, lasting from 2021 to 2030. The goal of this global movement is to “prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on...
Using migration patterns to understand bird population declines
A tree swallow sits on a barbed wire fence (Photo by Lisha Berzins)
I don’t know about you, but by this time of the year I am ready for winter to be over. I think birds feel the same way. As soon as the sun comes out of hiding and the temperature inches above freezing after a dreary Ontario winter, the...
Weston Family Conservation Science Fellowship Program
Sundial lupine in the oak savannah (Photo by NCC)
It’s a sunny June day with only a slight whisper of wind in the trees. I am walking slowly through an oak savannah with Angela Demarse, a master's of science candidate at the University of Guelph in Ryan Norris’s lab. We are in search...
Monarch migration
Monarch (Photo by NCC)
Fall is fast approaching. As the days grow shorter and temperatures drop, it’s time for monarchs to migrate south for the winter. These iconic bright-orange butterflies will soon be replaced by pumpkins and turning leaves. Monarchs spend...
