Birding links
Bald eagle going for dinner: Carl Erland Photo
| Advertisement Buy the latest edition (Dec. 2011) of The Seasonal Bird Checklist for the Parksville - Qualicum Beach Area for $3.00. Members only price 2 for $5.00. Compiled by Guy Monty. Available from Rhys at the meetings, by emailing: Seasonal Bird Checklist, from Cha Ch'a Java, 198 E Island Hwy on Weld St., Parksville 250-248-4225; Parksville Visitor Centre, 1275 East Island Hwy, Parksville, 250-248-3613 The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store, 6314 Metral Drive, Nanaimo 1-888-249-4145; or Dolly's Home Hardware, 169 W. 2nd. St., Qualicum Beach 250-752-9833. |
American Bird Conservancy: Cat Indoors
An excellent article and the dangers to birds caused by outdoor cats and the dangers to the cats themselves.
Margaret Atwood: To Act Now to Save Our Birds
Margaret Atwood has written an article in support of bird and biodiversity conservation. The renowned author is also Joint Honorary President (with her husband, Graeme Gibson) of BirdLife International’s Rare Bird Club. She presents some very interesting problems we face with the conservation of birds.
Winter vs. Pacific Wren vocalizations
Winter wrens west of the Rockies are now called Pacific wrens.
Local Birding
The Backyard Wildbird & Nature Store and Nanaimo Bird Alert
Also check the birdstore blog for the latest bird alerts and proposed free bird walks on Tuesday and Sunday mornings.
To report your sightings phone the Store at 250-390-3669, e-mail us at: thebackyard@shaw.ca or call the Bird Alert at 250-390-3029
Birding Vancouver Island B.C.
Post sightings and read other sightings on Birding Vancouver Island.
BCVIBIRDS
Information and discussions on Vancouver Island birds, birding, Vancouver Island birding sites, the conservation of birds, birding equipment, and related facets of natural history, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.Big Day Bird Count.. ... cancelled
Birds Studies Canada
Bird Studies Canada is a not-for-profit organization built on the enthusiastic contributions of thousands of volunteer Citizen Scientists. Data from Bird Studies Canada's volunteer surveys and targeted research projects are used to identify significant population changes and help direct conservation planning. See the following list all of their programs that birders can get involved.Baillie Birdathon
Each May participants choose their Birdathon Day, a 24 hour period in which they are sponsored to find and identify as many different species of birds as possible. The funds raised are for bird research and conservation.
Beach-goers walk a stretch of coastal beach once per month to record the numbers and condition of dead birds along the shoreline.
Participants count waterbirds at designated coastal sites every month, with an emphasis on the period from September to April.
View BC Coastal Waterbirds Survey data
NatureCounts website managed Bird Studies Canada
British Columbia Breeding Bird Atlas
Atlasers are identifying the 300 plus species of birds breed each year in British Columbia - more than any other province in Canada. Sixty-five species breed nowhere else in Canada and for several other species. Experienced volunteers are still needed to complete this project,
BC Bird Atlas Newsletters
Christmas Bird Count lists (CBC)
The CBC is considered the world's most significant citizen-based conservation effort with over 2000 Count Circles in North America. National Audubon Society has been collecting this data since 1900.
View the observations of the Arrowsmith Naturalists CBC.
Parksville - Qualicum Beach 2009 Christmas Bird Count
Parksville - Qualicum Beach 2010 Christmas Bird Count
Parksville - Qualicum Beach 2012 Christmas Count
Parksville - Qualicum Beach all years table summary
Project FeederWatch
Your counts will help scientists monitor changes in winter feeder-bird populations from year to year. You choose how much time you want to spend. New participants receive a kit with a handbook, a bird-identification poster, a calendar, and an instruction booklet. The 2010-11 season goes from Saturday, November 13 until Friday, April 8. There is a $35 fee to defray program expenses (participation is free for Bird Studies Canada members). Project FeederWatch is a joint program of Bird Studies Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Helpful hints for estimating shorebird flock size and identification of gulls and shorebirds.
Boreal Songbird Initiative
A project dedicated to educating birdwatchers and naturalists throughout the United States and Canada about the importance of the boreal forest to migratory birds.
Brant Wildlife Festival events
Brant Festival events are mostly held in Parksville area on Vancouver Island, B.C. to celebrate the migration stopover in area of the brant goose.
British Columbia Field Ornithologists
Keen birders and dedicated ornithologists formed BCFO in 1991. The purposes of the Society are the study and enjoyment of wild birds in British Columbia.IBA Canada website
Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada are announcing the launch of a new website for the Canadian Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program. The site’s main goals are to share information about IBAs in Canada, and to empower more Canadians to reconnect with nature as volunteers for the IBA Caretaker Network.
Birding notes.net
Archiving birding lists for the birding community.
Ducks Unlimited Canada
Conserves, restores and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North America's waterfowl.E Bird Canada
eBird Wants your Observations! A real-time, online checklist program, eBird provides rich data sources for basic information on bird abundance and distribution from bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers.
Together, eBird Canada participants have already contributed more data than almost any other bird monitoring program in Canada (an impressive 1.7 million observations). Those observations can be used to help monitor bird populations over time and across the landscape. Participating in eBird is simple and free, and you can even use it to keep track of your own sightings and checklists.
Guardians of Mid-Island Estuaries Society
A pilot project to rehabilitate critical estuarine marsh habitat and manage Canada Goose populations.
Great Backyard Bird Count Friday, February 15 through Monday, February 18, 2013.
Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count . Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers of all levels of birding experience to count birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. Cornell Lab of Ornithology organizes and collects this data.
For a more detailed summary of this year’s results and to view the count’s Top-10 lists, visit the GBBC website at www.birdcount.org.
Great Outdoor Recreation Pages WWW Birding Pages
Gives birdwatching practical advice.
Photographs, distribution maps and vocalizations for all North American birds by Environment Canada.
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary photo gallery
A good collection of bird photos and their description seen around ponds and wetlands.
Vancouver Rare Bird Alert
Victoria Rare Bird Alert
Wildlife Tree Stewardship (WiTS)
The Wildlife Tree Atlas is an online database of known wildlife trees on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. It is currently being extended to the South Okanagan. The Atlas shows wildlife tree locations, observations, and productivity.
Non-local Birding
American Birding Association Association
Comprehensive range of information and resources for birders.
Birding Pal
Find a volunteer amateur or paid professional local birder anywhere in the world to go birdwatching with plus other relevant birding information. Canada and United States is broken down into Provinces.
BirdLife International
A global partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.Birds! Newsletter On-line
Contains links to many birding sites, including major organizations, tour companies, and some birding product suppliers. Even has some bird games.Guided Birdwatching
Guided Birdwatching is the link between the travelling birder and birding guides all around the world. Their aim is to index all amateur birding guides, birding companies, field trips and bird walks.Royal Ontario Museum's "Explore Ontario's Biodiversity" website
Allows you to build your own field guide to the wildlife, including birds, of any Ontario county. Provides picture, text, and sound for each species. Also contains information on species at risk. A wonderful site.Ecology & Biodiversity
BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer: Species and Ecosystems Search
A source for authoritative conservation information on approximately 6000 plants and animals, and almost 600 ecosystems in British Columbia.
BC Ecological Reserves
Selected reserves are desrcibed.
Biodiversity of BC
The Biodiversity of BC web site provides insight into British Columbia's rich biological diversity. Read the essays presented in this site to learn what biodiversity is, what influences it, and how it is studied.
E-Fauna BC
Electronic Atlas of wildlife in British Columbia contains a checklists and other information including a photo gallery.Photographs
Vancouver Island Birds
An online magazine featuring photographs by Mike Yip.
Ralph Hocken bird photos
More Vancouver Island local bird photograhs.The Large's Family Photo Gallery
Includes local bird and other animal photographs.
Other resources
Bird List for Nanoose Bay
The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American birds
By Paul Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, & Darryl WheyeA great supplement to the usual identification description field guide with detailed information on diet, habitat, nesting habits and egg description for about every species of bird in North America. Also contains 250 short essays on ornithology. Browse inside this book.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Click on the buttons below to view the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web videos.
John Neville's birding links
Keystone carpenters: secrets of our forest engineers
by Pete Davidson, Mark Drever, Kathy Martin, Andrea Norris & Karen Wiebe
Woodpeckers are valuable indicators of forest health and the holes they excavate support countless secondary nesters thoughout the nest web system.
Bald eagles checking out the herring spawn: David Helem Photo
Great blue heron: David Helem Photo