Habitat loss contributing to declining grassland bird populations: report

Jody Allair, with Birds Canada, and volunteer bird counter Jim McCabe look for local species at Horseshoe Canyon near Drumheller. (CTV News)

Habitat loss is among the factors contributing to the decline of grassland bird populations that call the Canadian prairies homes, according to a report.

Birds Canada and the Government of Canada released The State of Canada's Birds 2024 looking at how bird populations have changed since 1970.

"Grassland birds have shown a 67 per cent decline since 1970 with no indication that it's levelling off," said Jody Allair, Birds Canada's director of communications.

"That has become one of the most imperiled groups of birds in this whole country right now."

Allair says that's likely because of habitat loss.

"We need to be identifying and conserving short grass prairie as much as possible," he said.

"We're losing thousands and thousands of hectares every year in the Canadian prairies and we need to wake up to that, we need to understand that if we keep removing grasslands at that rate, we are going to be pushing these birds out of the country."

The report focused on more than 460 species regularly occurring across the country.

"It's a real wake-up call to our bird groups that are most at risk," said Allair.

"Even though this is not a surprise to a lot of us who've been working in this field for a long time, there are several groups of birds that are not doing well in this report."

The data shows that shorebirds, arctic birds, long-distance migrants and aerial insectivores are all the groups that are not doing well and need more attention.

While the report helps researchers identify the species at risk, it also points to success stories of conservation.

"Birds like waterfowl, wetland birds and birds of prey, these are groups that we have taken a conscious effort to help bring back," he said.

"A lot of organizations across Canada and North America have worked to recover waterfowl and have worked to protect and preserve wetlands, the takeaway is that we know if we put time and effort and concerted effort into trying to save these birds, we can actually make a difference."

The data was collected for more than 50 years by tens of thousands of dedicated volunteers through Citizen Science programs. Jim McCabe, a bird watcher who lives in Nacmine, west of Drumheller, has seen many species of birds in 2024.

"I've got right now, including fly-bys and float-bys in my yard, I've got 135 species," he said. "And my life list, I have no idea."

McCabe is always out looking for birds and says he's happy to help researchers compile data for the Birds Canada report.

"I do the Feeder Watch and I'm always doing eBird counts," he said. "I take part in the Christmas bird count and the spring bird count as well."

Birds Canada goes back to 1970 for the report because it says that's the year when some of its best data sets started with breeding bird surveys along with some citizen science programs.

Allair says the report shows that the climate crisis, habitat loss and window collisions are factors in species reduction but adds that all Canadians can play a role in helping bird species thrive through simple measures like keeping house cats inside or a sticker on their window to keep birds from flying into them.

"I think the more people pay attention to birds, they build connections to nature," he said. "And I think through that wonder in the beauty of birds, I hope that will motivate people to start taking conservation."

Click here to see the full report.