BREEDING BIRDS
Cerulean Warbler (S.Leckie)
The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) indicates that relative to other areas of Southern Ontario, the Frontenac Arch has a “high proportion of forest, shrubland and low intensity agricultural habitats” and that diversity of breeding birds is “exceptionally high” (Ontario Partners in Flight 2006).
The Frontenac Arch is an extraordinary region for breeding bird populations in Ontario. The Frontenac Arch is a junction of five distinct ecoregions: the Mixedwood Plains, St. Lawrence Lowlands, Boreal Shield, Laurentian Mixed Forest and Eastern Broadleaf Forest. The resulting matrix of breeding bird species on the Frontenac Arch is considerably diverse. A total of fifteen bird species classified as Species At Risk occur or have occurred historically on the Frontenac Arch. Of these, Cerulean Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Golden-winged Warbler and Red-shouldered Hawk, among others, occur in the region in nationally significant densities.
Frontenac Breeding Birds
Frontenac Breeding Birds will be the flagship program of FBS and will assess distribution, relative abundance and demography of breeding bird communities on an annual basis. The goals of the Frontenac Breeding Birds program are to: (a) produce a baseline assessment and monitoring regime for species richness, abundance and distribution of breeding birds within the study area; (b) quantify and monitor demography of breeding bird populations and; (c) inventory and study species of interest.
This program will systematically assess relative abundance, species richness and distribution within the study area through the combined use of on-road and off-road variable circular plot point counts. This survey method will establish baseline data and protocols necessary for subsequent annual monitoring. We will also begin annual assessments of breeding bird demographics through the installation of the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program and a Nest Monitoring scheme. At present, primary demographic data (e.g. productivity, adult survivorship) are absent for most if not all bird species in the region. Data on vital rates such as productivity, survivorship, fidelity and recruitment are critical to the detection and reversal of causal factors in population trends. The first year of field studies alone will generate a new source of data on breeding bird populations for this region and serve as a vital platform for long-term monitoring and research.
Species At Risk
The rich diversity of species on the Frontenac Arch, including fifteen Species At Risk is cause for extensive monitoring and stewardship. As part of the Frontenac Breeding Birds program, we will document any rare species detected during all fieldwork operations during the breeding season and also perform additional area searches in appropriate habitats for target species. This effort will greatly enhance current knowledge of density and distribution of rare species in the area.
Project Whip-poor-will
The recently published second edition of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas reported major declines amongst a guild of species called “aerial foragers”, those that feed on flying insects. Not just limited to Ontario, most aerial foragers are quickly disappearing across the continent. The Whip-poor-will, so symbolic of cottage country forests, was once much more common across Southern and Central Ontario than it is today. In Ontario, this nocturnal insectivore remains most abundant along a narrow band of the Southern Shield, including the Frontenac Arch. Due to their nocturnal ecology, existing programs for landbird monitoring have not reliably monitored the populations of Whip-poor-will and other members of the nightjar family. In summer 2009, we will initiate a dedicated program to index and track changes in populations of these fascinating species.
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Frontenac Provincial Park forest
