Strictly for the Birds

Strictly for the Birds!

This is our page for bird enthusiasts, where we’ll be highlighting reports and stories about the bird life that can be seen on the Greenway. Let us know about anything interesting or unusual that you see yourself by clicking on “Report a Sighting” or the binoculars icon on the left panel.

Interested in learning how to identify birds? Click here to download a presentation given by Greg Sadowski from the TRCA at the Boyd Field Centre on 4th March 2005. Check our calendar and the “What’s Coming Up” box on the home page for announcements about upcoming field outings.

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Songbird Migration

Most songbirds migrate at night, passing invisibly overhead without being noticed. If you’re lucky enough to live within a migration flyway, you can hear these massive twice-yearly movements of songbirds. Spring and fall migration patterns are not simply a reflection of each other, since birds favour warmer routes where food is more abundant. Spring warming comes earlier to the interior of the continent, but summer warmth persists longer in regions closer to the sea. So on this side of the continent spring migration flyways tend to lie to the east of fall flyways.

A warm front moving up from the south in spring with moderate steady winds provides favourable conditions for bird migration. Often these air patterns are associated with overcast conditions and light or moderate rain. This kind of weather can signal when it’s a good time to go out and check for new arrivals. The peak period to view spring migration is usually from the second week of May until the end of that month.

The Bartley Smith Greenway is one of many north-south valley corridors in the GTA that songbirds use as migration routes, so it serves as an important feature in their annual life cycles.

Owls on the Prowl, by Ian Cannell

For the past 20 years my wife Carol and I have lived on Cherry Hills Road, backing onto Marita Payne Park. Despite the huge residential development that has taken place in this area, the number of wildlife species has actually increased, as the TRCA’s work to restore and enhance the natural habitat in the valley has begun paying dividends. I’ve seen over 140 species of birds, plus mammals such as deer, beaver, otter, mink, fox, and even opossums.

Spring Arrives on the Greenway, by Ian Cannell

Many species of birds that breed locally in areas such as the BSG head south for the winter to the southern USA, Central or South America, or even as far away as the South Pacific. Every year as spring approaches, I look forward to the returning migrants, the males in their most attractive plumage, ready to attract mates for the breeding season....

An Urban Ravine – What’s in it for the Birds?, by Greg Sadowski

For thousands of years since the last ice-age, songbirds have been making the perilous journey from breeding habitats in northern forests to rich winter foraging in central and south America. Tens of thousands of young songbirds on their first fall migration filter down from places as far afield as northern Manitoba through the forests of southern Ontario, using the many creek and river systems as readily recognizable highways on their trek south....