The new State of the Canada’s Birds report was just released by Birds Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, and it brings with it a message of warning, but also of hope.

A hopeful message

The warning: grassland birds are in trouble, with populations shrinking almost 70% compared to what was seen in 1970. This is no surprise, unfortunately. The last State of Canada’s Bird report, published in 2019, painted a similar picture for grassland birds, with much of these declines linked to habitat loss.

But we also have this hopeful message: wetland birds, birds of prey, and waterfowl have all been doing well, thanks to focused and sustained conservation efforts. These species groups show us that when we identify the causes of shrinking populations­ and we work together to address them, we can have profound positive impacts on wild bird numbers.

Eastern loggerhead shrikes are one of those birds included in the grasslands group, and we at Wildlife Preservation Canada have been working hard to turn this species’ story from one of warning to one of hope.

After a precipitous drop in the wild eastern loggerhead shrike population in the 1990’s, Environment Canada invited WPC to lead the multi-partner recovery effort in 2003. Since then, the wild population size has fluctuated. In the above graph, you can see captive breeding of this endangered species is working to prevent its extinction. If these declines were left unchecked, models have projected that the Ontario population could be extinct by now, but in the above graph you can see captive breeding of this endangered species is working to prevent that.


Since releases began in the early 2000’s, it’s clear that the captive bred released shrikes are making a positive impact on wild population numbers. This graph shows that having only wild produced young would not sustain the population to the numbers we have seen since starting the recovery program… and the wild population would eventually fall.

Here’s how we’re doing that:

1. Working across the subspecies’ range to identify and address threats.
Key to recovering a population is knowing what’s affecting them, and when that populations is migratory, that means looking at where they can be found throughout the whole year to identify those threats. We’ve been working with researchers throughout eastern North America to identify threats, and come up with a plan to address those threats across their entire range. The report from this work, which was facilitated by the IUCN Conservation Planning Specialist Group, will be available soon, and lays out all of the actions we can take to bring this species back from the brink.
(Left) Radio tag “backpack” on an eastern loggerhead shrike. Photo: A. Bowman (Right) Motus tower that receives signals from the radio tags.

2. Keeping eastern loggerhead shrikes on the landscape.
Recovering a small population is hard, but re-establishing a population that’s disappeared is even harder. That’s why we’ve been working with a dedicated network of partners* to breed eastern loggerhead shrikes in captivity so we can release those young back in to the wild each summer. This has ensured that the birds don’t disappear from their Ontario breeding grounds, and since releases started in 2001, we’ve put over 1400 young back on the landscape!
Shrike fledglings sitting in their nest. This nest is located within an enclosure at a specialized facility dedicated to breeding shrikes for release to the wild. Photo: SCBI

3. Protecting and stewarding eastern loggerhead shrike habitat.
As the State of Canada’s Birds report mentioned, habitat loss is a big issue for grassland birds, and shrikes are no exception. We’ve been working with partners like the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Couchiching Conservancy, and Ontario Parks to make sure that key habitat is protected in Ontario. A lot of shrikes also turn up on private lands though, so we also work with private citizens to help them manage their property so that it’s in a good state for both the landowners, and the birds!
The Carden Alvar – a landscape characterized by short vegetation, limestone rock and dotted with the occasional tree. These trees are perfect for shrikes where they can look out over the landscape and hunt. Photo: H. Hess.

4. Research to answer (as-yet) unanswered questions.
Where exactly do Ontario’s shrikes go in the winter? Are the birds coming back to the same territories every year? What impact are captive-bred birds having in the wild? These are all questions that we’ve been working on answering using radio tags, colour bands, and a whole lot of field work. Answering these questions will help us to better understand Ontario’s Eastern Loggerhead Shrike population, and allow us to be more effective in our recovery activities.
Lakesha Smith, Napanee Shrike Biologist, bands an eastern loggerhead shrike in one of the Napanee release enclosures. The shrikes are protected within a cardboard tube that also minimizes their stress during handling. Photo: J. Spero.

How you can help birds in Canada

It’s a long road to recovery for an endangered species like the eastern loggerhead shrike, but we, along with our myriad partners are committed to the effort. If you’d also like to help here are some things that you can do for shrikes:

  1. Report your sightings.
    If you see a shrike, especially one with colour bands, we want to know! This helps us monitor the population to see how our recovery work is going.
  2. Volunteer.
    Every spring we send out volunteers with our Adopt-A-Site program to look for shrikes and a suite of other grassland birds. If you’ve got a car and some time to spare, get in touch with us if you’d like more information.
  3. Treat birds (and all wildlife) and their habitats with respect.
    Seeing a rare bird can be very exciting, but make sure you always remember to give an animal the space it needs to not be stressed; getting too close to a bird or its nest at certain times could cause it to leave the nest, and we need the wild birds to be as successful as they can possibly be! Also, always strive to leave no trace, and make sure garbage ends up in the bin, not on the ground.
  4. Learn more, and share your knowledge.
    Shrikes are amazing little birds, but every species is amazing in its own way. Let your passion for birds and wildlife be infectious, and together we can make a change.

*Conservation Breeding Partners of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program

Toronto Zoo
African Lion Safari
Parc Omega
SCBI
National Aviary
Nashville Zoo

Read the original “The State of Canada’s Birds” report

The State of Canada’s Bird’s is a great overview of over 50 years of data, revealing an honest look at how Canada’s birds are doing. In addition to providing a look at the declines of various bird species, the report also highlights how you can help. From keeping cats indoors to choosing bird-friendly products, Birds Canada has a great list to checkout.

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