Some of North America's leading bird brains will gather at UBC this month to share recent research findings on all things ornithological.
It's the first time the annual North American Ornithological Conference, now in its fifth year, has been held in Canada, and the meeting comes in the wake of reports indicating that some of Canada's bird populations are in serious decline.
Bridget Stutchbury, a professor at York University, says the many problems affecting Canadas migrating birds arent easily fixed from home, but there is still room for hope and meetings slike this are a step in the right direction.
"The deforestation we've seen through southern Canada and the U.S. makes it much harder for birds to refuel and survive the trip to the tropics and back," said Stutchbury, whose free public lecture on Aug. 13 at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum will launch the four-day conference. "It's not just about breeding habitat being potentially threatened and their migration route, but they have to survive the winter in the tropics to come back. Migration is not a non-stop flight. These little birds have to find safe motels.
Threats include urban sprawl eating up forests and grasslands so that migratory birds have no place to land when they're tired; city lights confusing birds and causing them to crash into skyscraper windows; lower insect populations and consequently less food available; heavy pesticide use in the tropics killing off birds; and, of course, an ever-increasing cat population.
Stutchburys talk will focus on how new developments in tracking technology researchattaching tiny light sensors that record a daily diary of sunrise and sunset timesis giving researchers a birds eye view into the location and timing of migration routes and wintering grounds.
"Some people say, 'Who cares if you have nighthawks, I've never seen one,'" said Stutchbury, whose book The Silence of the Songbirds was shortlisted for the Governor Generals Award for Nonfiction. If the nighthawk goes extinct, is anyone going to suffer? Not really, honestly ... [but] consider three or four dozen species in Canada that are threatened, endangered or of special concern. It's alarming to project 50 year because, if it's bad now, what will be around for my grandchildren? Birds have the capacity to rebound in a matter of decades if we can identify the problem and give them a chance."
Take, for one example, the Purple Martin (Progne subis), a type of swallow considered threatened in British Columbia due to the loss of woodland habitat.
"We can manage habitat for Purple Martins breeding on Vancouver Island, but during the winter they are dependent on the savannahs of Brazil and Bolivia," said UBC professor and conference chair Kathy Martin in a press release. "To preserve whole communities of birds, cooperation across societies and the exchange of ideas between scientists and practitioners is critical. This is exactly what this conference achieves."
The conference will bring together 1,500 participants from 25 countries Aug. 13-18 at the university's main campus. Researchers will present topics ranging from migration patterns, to avian personalities, diseases, urban birds, vocal communication, mating habits, and the impact of wind-farms. For a full description of events, visit naoc-v2012.com.
