Grassland bird population declined 70 per cent in past 50 years

A starling flies up to a bird condo along the La Prairie Basin on the shore of the St. Lawrence River on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 in Lasalle, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Grassland birds are the most threatened populations of birds in Canada, with a 67 per cent decline since 1970, a report published Tuesday found — but a surprising alliance with beef producers is emerging to protect their habitat.

Much of the decline is attributed to the disappearance of grassland habitats across Canada, located largely in the Prairies. Birds that live only in grasslands have declined even more steeply, suffering a 90 per cent collapse since 1970, the report found.

“I tend to think of it as a quiet crisis,” said Patrick Nadeau, president of Birds Canada, the organization that co-wrote the report.

“You don't hear about it as much as you would, say, the loss of old growth forests, but it really is a crisis that's happening in grasslands — not just in Canada, but actually right across the Americas.”

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As a result of “perverse incentives and subsidies” in the agriculture sector, Nadeau said grasslands are being lost to farmland — mostly monoculture crops like soy or corn.

Incentives, like land valuation that does not consider the ecological benefits of grasslands, stronger subsidies for crop insurance than for forage insurance and clean fuel regulations that reward the production of biofuels from crops all contribute to declining grasslands, Nadeau said.

When it comes to halting and reversing grassland bird loss, two strongholds are protecting populations. The first is conservation and protected areas for grasslands; however, only 1 per cent of grasslands are protected in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The other stronghold is cattle ranches producing grass-fed beef, which rely on large grassland areas for feedstock. Livestock, like cattle, fill the void left behind by bison decimated during colonization. Big grazers play an essential role in grasslands and their bird populations.

It’s why Birds Canada is working with ranchers and policy-makers to change subsidies and incentives that pressure food producers to convert grasslands into cash crops, which “on a continental scale, seems to be driving the decline,” Nadeau said.

Pesticide use, urban expansion, roads, oil and gas development, as well as droughts and floods worsening due to climate change, are also threats to grassland bird species. 

It’s not just birds that are suffering from that loss of grasslands, either.

“Here’s the one-two punch: the exact same grasslands are really important carbon stores, so once you convert grasslands into cash crops, you’re irreversibly releasing carbon into the atmosphere,” Nadeau said.

The report, the State of Canada’s Birds, was co-written by Birds Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The report follows similar reports published by Birds Canada in 2019 and 2012. Much of the data was collected by thousands of volunteer citizen scientists.

The report brings both a warning about the decline of some populations like grassland birds, migratory birds and shorebirds, but also signs of hope for populations of waterfowl, birds of prey and wetland birds all seeing an increase since 1970. The increase is largely attributed to sustained conservation efforts and banning pesticides like DDT, which helped rebound the peregrine falcon.

“So, birds tell us that it is possible to bend the curve if we take targeted action,” Nadeau said. “Conservation does work, and we've got the bird groups to prove it.”

International cooperation for conservation is also a key to protecting migratory birds that regularly travel across the Americas each year. Birds Canada is part of the international organization Conserva Aves. The organization will send a delegation to COP16 in Colombia this year to advocate for strong accountability measures for Canada in its commitment to protecting 30 per cent of its land and waters.

“One of our key messages is that Canada has to step up to the plate and do its fair share in terms of international conservation,” Nadeau said.

More individual actions to protect birds also play an important role, Nadeau added. They include planting native species, reducing pesticide use and making windows safer for birds — around 25 million birds are killed each year by hitting windows.

Keeping cats indoors or leashed is another suggestion, as feral and outdoor cats kill around 100 million birds each year, the report found.