Is climate change impacting bird migration season?

Jody Allair of Birds Canada talks about bird migration in Alberta and how it has been impacted by climate change.

There may be fewer migratory birds in the skies over Edmonton this year. Jody Allair with Birds Canada joined CTV Morning Live’s Kent Morrison on what’s causing crowds to thin out.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: You recently placed a report on the state of Canada’s birds. What did we learn about bird numbers in it?

Jody Allair: We learned that there are several bird groups across Canada that have been declining pretty steadily since the 1970s and there are much fewer birds now than there were several decades ago. Here in Alberta, particularly grassland birds were one of the big declining species with about 67 per cent decline since 1970. In addition to that, shorebird numbers and aerial insectivores, so there’s several groups of birds that are declining, and certainly ones that we at Birds Canada are quite concerned about.

Kent: Do we know why this is happening?

Jody: It’s a whole suite of things that’s affecting birds right now. I think there’s a combination of factors like habitat loss, whether that’s on the breeding grounds, on migratory stopovers, or in their non-breeding areas in the tropics. Climate change is having a major impact on birds, especially the ones that feed on insects. Then within urban areas, you’ve got things like window collisions, outdoor cat predation, and just generally, a lack of habitat. It’s a combination of factors that have contributed to this.

Kent: What’s the impact of the numbers of these birds dropping?

Jody: I think birds are a couple things other than being just absolutely wonderful and amazing to spend time with. They’re an indicator of changes in our planet, and as bird populations are declining, it’s telling us that there are problems in our natural world. To me, the most important lesson here is that we have been able to make positive changes over the years to help birds. I think we need to step up to try to protect, not just some of our most fragile animals in our ecosystem, but also some of the most beautiful.

Kent: What can people do at home right now that can help out with the bird population and hopefully increase it?

Jody: There’s lots of great things and easy things for people to do at home. One of the easiest things you could do is gardening for birds. So planting native trees, native shrubs, maybe get rid of that lawn if you can. No one really likes to mow their grass anyway. Native plants and shrubs are really, really good to create habitat for birds. Put stuff on your windows, like a feather-friendly type product to keep birds from hitting your windows. Try to keep your cat inside. Cats kill about 160 million birds per year in Canada. You could do a combination of those things, or join a Bird Club. I often tell people that one of the best things you can do is get to know your birds, because birding is quite an amazing activity.

Kent: Now you’re an expert, and people have been voting for Edmonton’s official bird between the Blue Jay, the Magpie and the Boreal Chickadee. Who do you think should be named the bird of Edmonton?

Jody: Black-billed Magpie, no question. I think the Blue Jay is much more of an Eastern bird. I feel like that’s not the right fit. I love the Boreal Chickadee selection though. Tough, hardy, northern birds, and lot’s of people are not aware of them. But the Black-billed Magpie, to me, is Alberta. It’s the West. They’re corvid, so one of the most intelligent birds around. If you spend any time with them, you’ve probably seen that. Edmonton has a history of some of the biggest Christmas Bird Count totals of Black-billed Magpie in the world. So I think it’s a lock. I hope it’s the Black-billed Magpie.