While the fact that birds, planes and airports do not mix, there are a number of different ways their airports deal with a variety of birds, especially large birds such as raptors and owls. Given the size of these birds, the loss of human life can be catastrophic if one collides with a plane or […]

Officially listed as a “special concern” here in the province of Ontario, the black tern is literally fighting for its life. The small, dark-coloured birds spend their time in the marshes and swamp habitat throughout the province as they forage for insects and dive for small fish. One of the more unique points surrounding this […]

While getting yourself a few good feeders and educating yourself about the very best seed available, there is so much more that really goes into planning your backyard for birding; or birdscaping. Visions differ from birder to birder, as does available free time, so depending on where you fit, a complete overhaul or planning process […]

One of North America’s most beloved songbirds would have to be the purple martin. These birds dazzle the eyes with acrobatic aerial displays and please the ears with their tender songs. These birds nest in cavity type areas such as old woodpecker hollows and other natural cavities and do so quite well in the western […]

Natural disasters like the forest fires raging in western Canada are extremely detrimental to not only the trees and foliage, but to the inhabitants of these wooded areas, often injuring, killing and displacing thousands of animals. Often the result of extremely dry climate, forest fires ignite and can burn for months on end, even while […]

While many birds (and us humans) need and love healthy and strong growing trees, many species also can find a variety of uses for dead trees, or “snags”.   A snag is a dead or almost-dead tree that is still standing or leaning in the air perhaps on another tree and is often disregarded by many […]

Much like their inhabitants, hummingbird nests can be quite difficult to locate and identify. As you can imagine, the size of the nest of a hummingbird is actually quite small and can easily be missed, even by the most trained eye. The reason they are so difficult to find goes beyond just the size of […]

Much like anything that brings us a great deal of joy, some of us can easily overdo it when it comes to our backyard birds. From too much seed, to overcrowding bird houses and nesting boxes we all do our very best to give our birds what they need, especially come winter. But how much […]