Inspiration in the face of conservation challenges

Bird Ecology and Conservation Ontario
Newsletter No. 13, November 2018

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Inspiration in the face of conservation challenges

2018 was designated the year of the bird by several organizations, including National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's been just over 100 years since Canada and the United States signed the Migratory Birds Convention. Both countries subsequently passed legislation to implement the treaty and protect migratory birds.

Despite more than a century of bird conservation work and some notable successes, many bird populations are declining at astounding rates, with numerous unanswered questions about the reasons for population declines and how to recover these disappearing species. It can be a daunting and at times heartbreaking field to work in. Two things that never fail to inspire us are watching these charismatic birds in the field and gathering with other researchers and conservationists to share ideas.

Andrew Campomizzi, Research Scientist, at the 25th annual conference of The Wildlife Society.

Photo: Zoé Lebrun-Southcott

In October, Andrew Campomizzi and Zoé Lebrun-Southcott presented a poster on BECO's bobolink research in rotationally-grazed pastures at the 25th annual conference of The Wildlife Society in Cleveland, Ohio.

See the poster →

The conference was attended by more than 1,650 professionals and students working on wildlife research in North America and beyond. Although the conference included an extremely broad array of topics, conservation figured prominently in sessions, plenaries, and discussions throughout the week-long gathering. With so many wildlife conservation challenges today, including precipitous population declines, it was inspiring to be amongst so many motivated people working tirelessly to advance and support wildlife conservation. We returned with a renewed determination to make BECO's research count and have a substantial impact on conserving Ontario's rapidly declining songbird populations.

The charismatic bobolink

Over the past three field seasons, we've spent countless hours observing bobolink behaviour, which never ceases to be interesting. Individual birds sometimes have very different personalities and every once in a while, we happen upon a bird with a unique and distinctive song. It's nothing short of fascinating.

It may be difficult to appreciate how interesting these little birds are if you haven't had the opportunity to spend much time watching them in the field. Using Gerald Morris' excellent video clips from the field, we've tried to share with you some of the beauty of the bobolink and some of the reasons why BECO is working to conserve this threatened species.

www.beco-birds.org

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