The Canadian Wildlife Service or CWS (French: Service canadien de la faune), is a Branch of the Department of the Environment (Environment and Climate Change Canada), a department of the Government of Canada. November 1, 2012 marked the 65th anniversary of the founding of Service (originally known as the Dominion Wildlife Service).The Canadian Wildlife Service has been Canada's national wildlife agency since 1947.
Climate change is drastically altering habitats and biodiversity in Northern Canada, threatening Inuit food security and traditional lifestyles. Monitoring these sensitive ecosystems will help track spatiotemporal impacts of environmental constraints. We coupled drone and aerial surveys with historical colony counts to map culturally important seabird hotspots within a Nunatsiavut polynya system during ice-covered and ice-free seasons. Seasonal shifts in seabird abundance and distribution were evident, with more individuals present during the ice-free season. In 2023, we recorded the highest Common Eider colony counts to date, with 1859 breeding pairs. Three gull species declined sharply between 1978 and 2012, reflecting regional trends, but colony sizes have since stabilised or increased. Double-crested Cormorant colony sizes have remained stable for 20 years, yet community members report large abundance increases and northern range shifts. Notably, the area supports nationally important aggregations of foraging Razorbill, exceeding the threshold for Key Biodiversity Area nomination. These abundance and distribution patterns can support Inuit-led conservation initiatives, from protected area planning to assessing risks to egg and meat harvests. Continuing to integrate Inuit Knowledge and community priorities with modern tools will help inform whether nationally important bird populations will persist in this ecologically unique region under future climate pressures.
The Arctic is undergoing rapid declines in sea ice and changes in Arctic ecosystems. The diet of one of the Arctic’s most abundant seabirds, the black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), has been used as an indicator of ecosystem changes in the European Arctic, yet little is known about their diet in the Canadian Arctic. We quantified the stomach contents of kittiwakes near Qikiqtarjuaq and Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet), Nunavut, in the Canadian Arctic, and assessed if stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes in livers differed from that of the dominant prey in their stomachs. Based on stomach contents, prey did not significantly differ between regions, where the dominant prey was Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). However, after accounting for dietary discrimination, δ13C and δ15N values of kittiwake liver were at a lower trophic level than that of Arctic cod muscle. Thus, while kittiwakes do heavily consume Arctic cod, stomach content analysis may underestimate soft tissue prey in their diet, such as invertebrates. Future research should include regurgitate and faecal samples to better understand kittiwake diet in the Canadian Arctic. Nevertheless, as climate change impacts continue to increase, this study provides important benchmark information for monitoring changes in these Arctic-breeding seabirds.
Conservation areas (CAs) are critical tools in biodiversity conservation, yet their relationship to species of highest conservation need (i.e., species that are rare, range-restricted, sensitive to habitat change, or under significant threat) and the habitats they depend on is understudied. We apply a dynamic occupancy modeling framework to point count data from surveys both in and outside of Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture (CIJV) and Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture (PBHJV) CAs in British Columbia (BC), Canada and data from the BC Marsh Monitoring Program from 2021 to 2024, asking whether sites within CAs contain greater proportions of priority habitat compared to sites in adjacent unprotected areas, and thus promote the occupancy of conservation priority birds. We uncovered strong relationships between priority bird occupancy and environmental conditions, but little difference in most priority habitat proportions between sites in CAs and unprotected areas. We only detected a relationship between a site’s conservation status and priority bird occupancy in two of ten priority bird groups. Aerial insectivores and species at risk act-listed birds in CIJV showed reduced site extinction probability in CA sites, perhaps due to greater foraging opportunities from the more prevalent wetland habitat. Using insights gained from our models, we make recommendations for conservation practitioners looking to ensure CAs can better benefit bird species with the greatest need. Our results contribute to the broader understanding of the role CAs play in biodiversity conservation, and suggest that they require special attention to effectively preserve priority species.
Avian malaria parasites and related haemosporidians include a highly diverse group of parasites infecting wild birds worldwide, with variable knowledge depending on bird taxa. Although comparatively less studied than terrestrial species, avian malaria infections in seabirds are generally rare, a pattern attributed to several non-mutually exclusive hypotheses, including limited exposure to vectors and differences in host life history traits. Here, we screened blood parasites by combining molecular detection and observation of blood smears in the highly endangered Bermuda Petrel (Cahow) Pterodroma cahow, sampled during the 2022 breeding season (January–April). In addition, we quantified the blood cell types to provide baseline information on the immunological status of this species. Furthermore, few blood samples of the White-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon lepturus catsbyii breeding in sympatry on the same archipelago were also analyzed for parasite presence. Our results support the absence of blood parasites of the genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Leucocytozoon as well as filaroid nematodes. The absence of blood parasite infections in both species may reflect low exposure to vectors in offshore marine and terrestrial environments, although other explanations, such as the absence of parasites able to infect these host species, are also possible. We found no significant differences in the relative abundance of monocytes among islets, although differences were observed, and a significantly higher total abundance of leucocytes in female Bermuda Petrels than males. Differential parasite exposure among islets and differential life history traits between sexes could account for these results. Negative records of parasite infections in wild birds, including endangered species, are essential for accurately characterizing global infection patterns and understanding host–parasite associations in avian communities.
