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
Join BIRDS of a FEATHER!
Help PIBO expand its research, education, and outreach programs!
Join PIBO’s new membership program—BIRDS of a FEATHER—and receive The Pinion, our new bimonthly e-journal of news, views, and reviews at home on Pelee Island and along the hemispheric flyways. Together, we can build a better future for birds.
Migration Summary - October 1 - 15, 2024
We tend to expect October to be a quiet month for birds. Hasn’t the flurry of warblers, with their vibrant colours, mostly passed by now? Actually, quite the contrary is true: October is a crowd favourite of a month. Although the start of this October had one very clear trick up its sleeve – such a palpable drop in temperatures that we lost track of the number of mornings when we opened nets and could barely feel our fingers – we were definitely busy with the birds.
Migration monitoring wasn’t too overwhelming the first few days of the month. The first day yielded a total of 20 birds banded of 8 species, and 33 species recorded on census. A Brown thrasher and a Gray catbird were making themselves heard at the banding station. A nice surprise was seeing a beautiful osprey perched on a dead tree in the netting area.
Migration Summary - September 16 - 30, 2024
If the first half of September seemed to shape itself into a decreasing exponential curve, with a dazzling beginning and a stumped ending, the second portion appears to have chosen the opposite route. A slow and steady start out of the blocks led to a finish worthy of being described as the apotheosis of migration. The best part of it was the latest addition to the incredible team of migration-monitoring biologists: our long-term volunteer Shannon, coming to us all the way from Vermont! We were excited to have another bird aficionado join us for a couple weeks.
September 16 to 19 were quiet migration days. We achieved tallies of between 9 to 20 birds banded each day. Warblers were noticeably less abundant, and our censuses recorded between 32 and 42 species. However, raptor migration was going stronger than ever: Northern harriers gliding towards South Bass Island. Merlins relentlessly tormenting European starlings at the fox pond. Sharp-Shinned and Cooper’s hawks flying around Fish Point by the dozens.
Missed Rodrigo Lopez’s Bird Talk?
No problem! For those who weren’t on Pelee Island in May for this year’s Bird Talk, presented by Mexican field guide Rodrigo Lopez, you can listen to the entire talk on YouTube.
On Mother’s Day 2024, the Pelee Island Bird Observatory officially announced the development of a new Bird Centre on Pelee Island. A little more than a year before, PIBO purchased The Bike Shop, formerly the LCBO, which sits on West Shore Road almost across from the ferry terminal. Demolition has already begun to gut the interior and begin the two-million dollar renovation that will see the building reborn as a research and education centre. Stayed tuned for stories about the transformation of PIBO’s fledgling project.
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.
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.
PIBO in Mexico: The Prismaticos Project 2024
The second year of PIBO’s Graeme Gibson Prismaticos Project is underway. We gathered used binoculars, spotting scopes and bird books in Canada to distribute to forest rangers, nature guides, and school classrooms in Mexico. Over the winter, our Mexican partner, Rodrigo Lopez, sent out dozens of request forms, and from among those who applied he selected eight recipients whose needs were most urgent.
This March, for Phase One, he travelled to the city of Chupícuaro, in southwestern Guanajuato state, to deliver seven pairs of binoculars and a spotting scope to a group of volunteer guardabosques
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.
Photo by Richard Cooper
New and Noteworthy
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.
Work With Us!
Every year PIBO hires two Assistant Field Biologists, one for the spring banding season and one for the fall. We also welcome volunteers to work with our field staff on Pelee Island throughout the April to October season.
In the fall, we welcome a PIBO International Intern, an ornithologist or avian biologist working somewhere along the hemispheric flyway. Our first in this important skills-exchange program was Martha Ramirez Cruz from Hidalgo, Mexico.
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 or working with PIBO, find out more:
