By Andrew Coughlan, Director – Québec, Bird Studies Canada
Andrew Coughlan at the launch event in Montréal,
thanking all who made the Atlas possible
Photo: Andrew Couturier
I’m pleased to announce that a valuable new contribution to our understanding of Canada’s birds – The Second Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Southern Québec – was released in bookstores on April 4, 2019. You can also order it online.
The three Atlas partners – Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux – would like to sincerely thank all who contributed to this colossal work. We’re also grateful to those who took advantage of the presale that raised the funds needed to pay for the printing of the book. We hope you enjoy it!
The Atlas partners were able to personally thank over 200 collaborators and supporters during two recent events held to celebrate the launch of the new Atlas at the Domaine Cataraqui in Québec City and at the Montréal Botanical Garden. These gatherings also provided excellent opportunities for Bird Studies Canada staff (Silke Nebel, Andrew Coughlan, and Andrew Couturier) and Board member Rodger Titman to meet supporters and project participants, and for members of the extended ornithological community to discuss ways to help conserve wild birds.
You can see highlighted results from the new Québec Atlas in the forthcoming Spring 2019 issue of Bird Studies Canada’s member magazine, BirdWatch Canada. If you are interested in putting your own bird observations to work for research and conservation, we invite you to explore Citizen Science opportunities with Bird Studies Canada on our website.
Atlas editors Michel Robert, Andrew Couturier, and Marie-Hélène Hachey Photo: Andrew Couturier
Significance of the Project
Birds are strong indicators of the health of our shared ecosystems, and tracking their population trends is essential. Breeding Bird Atlases achieve this and benefit birds, focusing conservation needs and informing decisions that minimize impacts on biodiversity. Equally importantly, they nurture and engage future champions for nature conservation.
Atlas-themed macarons at the Montréal
launch Photo: Andrew Couturier
Acknowledgements
On behalf of Bird Studies Canada, I would like to thank the hundreds of volunteer atlassers for the personal investments and sacrifices they made to collect atlas data. Thanks, too, to participants of programs such as the Marsh Monitoring Program, the Nocturnal Owl Survey, and Project NestWatch, whose data served the project, and to field crews and partner staff who worked in remote areas. Without you, the Atlas would never have seen the light of day.
Bird Studies Canada has been delighted to pool its expertise with the complementary skills of co-partners the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Regroupement QuébecOiseaux, and with the skill of hundreds of bird enthusiasts, to work on this project.
