Species at Risk on Pelee

There are simple actions that we can take every day that will help promote a healthier world for birds, for ourselves, and for our grandchildren. Our day-to-day choices add up to an enormous ecosystem boost for birds and other wildlife. Here are some easy choices to make:

What to Buy or Do

Buy shade coffee or sustainable coffee that is organic and fairly traded
Why: Increases tropical forest habitat for birds and other wildlife; conserves soil; provides fair profits for farmers; fewer pesticides in environment

When buying produce from Latin America, such as bananas and pineapples, choose organic when available
Why: Reduces the amount of dangerous pesticide use in the tropics; fewer birds killed; safer for farmers and consumers

Buy organic, or avoid altogether when possible, the North American crops that pose the greatest risk to birds: alfalfa, Brussels sprouts, blueberries, celery, corn, cotton, cranberries, potatoes, and wheat
Why: Reduces the amount of dangerous pesticides in the environment; fewer birds killed; safer for farmers and consumers

Buy wood and paper products that are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
Why: Increases the amount of forest being logged sustainably and responsibly; better habitat for birds and a healthier forest

Buy disposable paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, tissues) that are made from recycled paper and that are not bleached with chlorine
Why: Reduces logging pressure on forests; increases habitat for birds; creates less pollution

Turn off the lights at night in city buildings and homes during peak migration periods
Why: Fewer birds killed and injured by hitting buildings; saves electricity

Keep your cat indoors
Why: Fewer birds killed; healthier and longer lives for pets

From Stutchbury, B. 2007. Silence of the Songbirds: How we are losing the world's songbirds and what we can do to save them. Toronto, ON: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Biology: The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)

is a large secretive warbler, which spends much of its time skulking in hedge-rows. The song is extremely varied and consists of a weird assortment of clicks, liquid whistles and even chuckles.
Status: Special Concern Provincially and Nationally
Why at Risk: The Chat is a species that depends on succession habitats. A succession habitat is one where clearings have become overgrown with scrub and thickets. These habitats have disappeared with continued natural succession and as land was cleared for crops and development. On Pelee Island, the Chat population is found in private and protected reserves. Fire management of select areas will be needed to maintain scrub and thickets, as well as open areas for this species.

Biology: The Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)

is a small olive-green songbird that has a pale eye ring, light-coloured wing bars and a short brown bill with a slightly hooked tip. It is best identified by its song, an emphatic ("pi-zza"). This flycatcher's preferred habitat is the forest interior of large tracts of mature, shady, maple-beech forest. It builds a distinctive hanging nest on a forked branch in a tree or shrub. The Acadian Flycatcher is an insectivorous (insect-eating) bird and it hunts by darting out from a perch to capture prey on the wing. In Ontario, it is believed that there are fewer than 40 breeding pairs scattered throughout suitable habitat in the Carolinian Forest zone. Several birds were recorded on territory in the Island alvar in the 1980's. Since then, several spring records exist of singing males around Fish Point.
Status: Endangered Provincially and Nationally
Why at Risk: The major threat is habitat loss due to forest clearing and fragmentation. Other factors contributing to the risks have not been adequately studied and, therefore, are not fully understood.