Celebrating Bird Day!
On Saturday, May 11th, nature groups across North America celebrated World Migratory Bird Day to welcome back the return of migratory birds. In Canada, 80% of bird species leave our borders every fall to their wintering grounds and return every spring to nest.
Bird Day at the ottawa children’s festival
Nature Canada hosted a Bird Day event in conjunction with the Ottawa Children’s Festival, as an opportunity for children and families to get outside, learn about migratory birds and be inspired to take part in conservation.
Falcon Ed was back with a spectacular bird of prey flight demonstration. These majestic birds are always a crowd favourite, and this year participants saw up close a Harris hawk, Barn owl, American Kestrel and Great-Horned owl.
The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, and Ottawa Councillor Catherine McKenney attended and gave remarks on the importance of reducing plastic for bird conservation.
And what’s a Bird Day event without bird watching? Families participated in a guided nature walk with Nature Canada’s resident naturalist, Ted Chesky, who led them down to the river where they learned the basics of birding. Some of the species spotted included, Tree and Barn swallow, Canada goose, Mallard, Killdeer, Ring-billed gull, Cormorant and Oriole.
celebrating birds across Canada!
Similar events took place across the country and throughout the Americas to celebrate World Migratory Bird Day, a project created by Environment for the Americas to raise awareness on the need to conserve birds and their habitats.
This year’s conservation theme is “Protect Birds: Be the solution to Plastic Pollution” to raise awareness of the risks migratory birds face from ingesting plastics to entanglement. On the heels of a major UN report sounding the alarm on the devastating impact of humans on nature, Bird Day events can help raise awareness of bird conservation and showcase how individuals can make a difference for wildlife.
Thank you to everyone who participated! See you next year!
