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Going out to look for chicks takes on whole new meaning

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 04/10/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A male wild turkey struts through a field showing off his fine feathers to a trio of females (unseen), off Inkster Boulevard this morning. While it is the largest game bird in Manitoba, it is estimated there are only 2,500 wild turkeys living in Manitoba. (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Minimum wage is going up, but the province is still hoping for some cheep labour.

Or rather, for free labour that loves the cheep-cheep: Starting now and lasting until 2015, hundreds of citizen volunteers are needed to scout out birds, especially those in the family way, for a first-ever Manitoba breeding birds atlas.

"We're trying to get everybody involved," said Christian Artuso, the Manitoba projects manager for Bird Studies Canada. "If someone has a robin or chickadee nesting in their backyard, they can contribute that. If they're driving down the highway and see a hawk in a nest, they can contribute that."

The five-year plan sounds simple, but packs a scientific punch. Volunteers, be they expert birdwatchers, a curious family, or a nature photography club, will sign up with atlas supervisors for a one 10-square-kilometre area on a provincial grid.

Then they commit to spending at least 20 hours over the next five years scouring that area, looking for breeding birds. If they need help, there's always the project's website -- birdatlas.mb.ca -- or its planned birdwatching workshops. And if they find some mommy and daddy birds... well, they'll be helping science: After five years of observation, the data gathered will be able to shed light on everything about the roughly 200 species of birds that call Manitoba their mating home.

That's information that's lacking in a provincial context, Artuso said. For instance, while the number of birds on the Canadian species-at-risk list has doubled since 2006, to about 20 species, the decision is based on national trends. Some of those species could be thriving in Manitoba... and some could be struggling more than we know.

"(The data) will be useful in so many ways," Artuso said. "It's so important to have a comprehensive data set for the province, and it's something we don't quite have yet."

So important is the data that it's being supported by no fewer than six government and non-government partners, including Environment Canada, Nature Manitoba, and the Manitoba Museum. And soon, Artuso hopes, hundreds of Manitobans will sign up, grab their binoculars and start looking for chicks.

"It gets people hooked," he said. "It's like hearing things in a whole new way. It increases your powers of observation. It makes going for a walk in the woods a whole lot of fun."

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Look at the birdie

So, you wanna be a Manitoba bird atlas hero? No problem: just find something nobody else has found before. "The ultimate would be to document a species breeding in the province that hasn't been documented breeding here before," says bird atlas co-ordinator Christian Artuso. "Maybe we'll find them." Here, the shortlist of the bird atlas's most wanted, by region:

Southwest: The long-billed curlew

Right next door in Saskatchewan, birders have spotted this needle-nosed shorebird getting its egg on. But despite a past history of breeding in Manitoba, and a recently thriving worldwide population, the curlew hasn't been spotted nesting 'round these parts in a long, long time.

Southeast: black-throated blue warbler

This little bird's song echoes across the forests of northern Ontario, but experts have yet to find a nest in our province. Are the black and blue males (and their brownish mates) skeptical of the promise of Friendly Manitoba? Or are they just keeping their nests off the beaten path?

North: Ross's gull

Despite its jaunty crimson legs, this little gull doesn't like to be seen: In fact, one of its only known breeding spots is along the Hudson Bay coast near Churchill, where a few pairs have settled in. Organizers would go gaga if an atlas volunteer found a nest.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 10, 2010 B3

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