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Our appreciation  to Paul Jones, Mike V.A. Burrell, Richard K. Cooper, Sumiko Onishi and all the bird photographers who shared their work in these pages.

WELCOME TO THE PELEE ISLAND BIRD OBSERVATORY

The Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) is uniquely situated on the most southerly island in Canada, nestled in the western arc of Lake Erie, between the mainlands of Ohio and Ontario, but most importantly, in the path of two major migratory flyways for songbirds that winter in Central and South America and breed in Ontario. Among PIBO’s many research and outreach projects, PIBO conducts annual migration counts and bird banding. We also monitor the island’s significant breeding bird communities. Our online newsletter, The Auspice, provides migration summaries, records unusual bird sightings, bird population declines, and other birding news. And our downloadable bird checklist highlights the impressive range of birds that visit Pelee Island, including several Species at Risk and those that have limited breeding ranges in Ontario. Find out more about Who We Are and What We Do—and what YOU can do to help protect birds and bird habitat in southeastern Ontario

Play Video about video-Introduction to PIBO

Pelee Wings PIBO Bird Talk: Mexico’s Iconic Bird

On Sunday, May 12, 2024, join Mexican bird guide Rodrigo Lopez on Pelee Island to learn about the natural and cultural history of the Rose-bellied bunting, one of Mexico’s most beautiful endemic birds.

Confined to an area about the size of Algonquin Park, the plight of this tiny blue-and-rose bird, which struggles to survive in habitat threatened by a transoceanic railway, wind farms, and global warming, signals the threat to the tens of millions of birds that migrate twice a year through pinch-points such as Pelee Island and the Mexican Isthmus.

Ontario’s Species-at-Risk Act Threatened

The Ontario government wants to water down the province’s Species-at-Risk Act in order to push through its plans to build Highway 413, a mega-project that will cut through 220 wetlands, 85 waterways, the Greenbelt, and the protected habitat of 11 at-risk species, including those of seven birds.

Claiming that the new highway is necessary to facilitate access to new housing north of Toronto, the Ford government is introducing amendments to the Ontario Species-at-Risk Act that reduces by half the amount of time a habitat can be protected. Currently the Act states that if a species-at-risk has occupied a particular habitat in the past 20 years, that habitat must be protected and/or restored. The new legislation would reduce that period to 10 years.

The Eastern meadowlark is one of 7 at-risk species threated by Ontario’s proposed Highway 413. Illustration by Alfred Dugès.
Ruby-throated hummingbird at feeder
Ruby-throated and other hummingbirds may soon depend on backyard feeders for their survival. Photo by Richard Cooper.

Hummers Need Our Help

Hummingbirds aren’t often included in discussions about threatened bird species, but according to Birdlife International, 28 species of New World hummingbirds are now considered vulnerable, with at least 8 nearing extinction. Most of those, such as Juan Fernandez and the Sapphire-bellied hummingbirds, are found only in Central and South America. But several North American hummingbirds are also becoming species of concern.

Of the three species found west of the Rockies – Anna’s, Allen’s and Costa’s hummingbirds – the Allen’s population has declined by 83 percent since 1970, down to fewer than 700,000 individuals, and is still declining. The Rufous hummingbird has lost two-thirds of its population in the past 50 years, and is one of 70 bird species considered to be at Birdlife International’s “Tipping Point,” which means it is expected to become extinct in the next 50 years.

Juvenile Bald eagle
A juvenile Bald eagle feeds off an avian-flu-infected Canada goose carcass in Kingston, Ontario.
Photo by Richard Cooper.

Sound familiar?

Canada geese in Ontario are dying in what virologists are calling an “unprecedented” worldwide surge of avian flu (H5N1). In the past year, the disease has affected 80 countries, and since spreading to North America, probably via migratory species, has killed 72 million farm birds in the United States alone. In January, virologists in Kingston, Ontario, collected 30 Canada goose carcasses from the Lake Ontario waterfront, all of which tested positive for the wildly infectious disease.

While avian flu affects mostly aquatic species such as gulls, terns and geese, it is also being found in mammals such as foxes, skunks, and bears, and in birds of prey such as eagles, which feed on the dead birds. 

Did You Know?

The American Ornithological Society has committed to changing the English-language names of all birds in North America named after people, along with names deemed offensive or exclusionary. Beginning in 2024, a select AOS committee will rename 70-80 birds species in Canada and the U.S. that have human names: thus new names will be sought for such birds as Barrow’s goldeneye, Sprague’s pipit, Wilson’s snipe, and Cooper’s hawk.

The process has already begun with some species: for example, in 2020 the name of the McCown’s longspur was changed to the Thick-billed longspur, because its original name referred to General John McCown, an officer in the American Confederate army.

“As scientists, we work to eliminate bias,” says AOS executive director and CEO Judith Scarl. “Exclusionary naming conventions developed in the 1880s, clouded by racism and bigotry, don’t work for us today.”

The AOS’s ultimate goal is to make birding more attractive to those who might be put off by bird names that evoke unpleasant historical associations. North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds since 1970. If more people become involved with birding, the AOS hopes more efforts will be made to preserve and protect species and reverse declining bird populations.

The Wilson’s snipe is one of 80 birds named after humans that the AOS will be changing.
Photo by Richard Cooper

New and Noteworthy

Birds Without Borders: (left to right) Martha Ramirez Cruz; Shauna Hemmingway; Rodrigo López, Margaret Atwood. Photo by Merilyn Simonds.

PIBO in Mexico

On March 2, PIBO held its first Birds Without Borders Sunset Cocktail Party, an event designed to raise funds for our 2024 Guest Birder and International Intern programs. The party was hosted in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, by Camino Sylvestre.

Michelle Mastellotto, shown here at our baning station on Pelee Island, volunteered with PIBO during the 2022 fall migration.
Michelle Mastellotto, shown here at our baning station on Pelee Island, volunteered with PIBO during the 2022 fall migration.

Work With Us!

Every year PIBO hires an Assistant Field Biologist and welcomes Volunteers to work with our field staff on Pelee Island.

We run a variety of important projects on the island, including bird banding (in 2023 we banded nearly 2,800 birds between May and October), breeding bird studies, migration monitoring, and Purple martin research.

If you are interested in being a volunteer with PIBO, find out more: