FLAPNews_Spring2016_v4_Layout 1 - Fatal Light Awareness Program

TOUCHING DOWN THE NEWSLETTER OF THE FATAL LIGHT AWARENESS PROGRAM CANADA

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How to Monitor for Fallen Birds but most firms cannot summon the necessary level of detail and care. As a result, many live birds are overlooked or picked up but not tended to carefully, often resulting in death. If injured or dead birds remain exposed for long they may be taken by scavengers or trod upon. Lives and key data are lost simply because patrols are not frequent enough.

Illustration by N. DREW

from over two decades rescuing birds that hit buildings how to patrol efficiently while considering the safety and well-being of the injured birds. We are careful handling the dead birds as well, knowing that the bodies will be used for valuable research and education at the Royal Ontario Museum and other institutions. It concerns us that some condo

and office building owners and managers insist that they and their security staff can manage bird rescue patrols on their own. We welcome their willingness to help us find birds. However, without the proper training and tools or adequate time and attention to detail, they may end up doing more harm than good. Sometimes, corporate building owners hire third parties to patrol around new and existing buildings,

This illustration is not representative of all security staff/building operations

At FLAP Canada, we have learned

FATAL LIGHT AWARENESS PROGRAM CANADA 123 Queen Street West, Box 199, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3M9 Tel: (416) 366-FLAP www.flap.org

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Safe Wings Ottawa

“Birds are important to me,”

Artwork by JACKIE BESTEMAN

says Toronto artist Jackie Besteman, “and through my paintings and illustrations, I hope to draw people to their world, their plight and, most of all, their beauty.” Jackie’s paintings are made in acrylic on wood with a resin finish. She has worked as an editorial illustrator for over 20 years. Her other passion is Kundalini yoga and meditation. Jackie is generously donating 25% of the proceeds from the sales of this expressive Blue Jay print to FLAP Canada. Thank you, Jackie! To see her other paintings of birds, people, maps and everyday life (including people meditating and doing yoga!), visit jackiebesteman.com.

Jackie Besteman is donating a portion of the sales from her Blue Jay print to FLAP Canada.

FLAP Canada’s Fledgling: BirdSafe™ To address the dramatic decline in bird species, FLAP Canada has developed objective solutions, in partnership with other experts, that go a long way toward reducing building collision threats to birds. FLAP Canada has been actively implementing bird-safe guidelines and assessments across the country. We are pleased to announce that we have contracted the services of Sandra Pakosh to help us take advantage of the municipal, industrial, commercial and institutional opportunities for the implementation of BirdSafe™,

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FLAP’s building standards and risk assessment. Sandra will also build the BirdSafe™ brand. She brings a wealth of brand management, public affairs, environmental services, cause marketing and volunteerism expertise to FLAP Canada. We are looking forward to exciting BirdSafe™ developments on behalf of our concerned building owners and green city planners. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ™BirdSafe is a registered trademark of Fatal Light Awareness Program Canada

In the spring of 2014, Anouk Hoedeman and Sarah KirkpatrickWahl started studying the local bird collision problem under the name FLAP Canada–Ottawa Wing. By November 2015, the two had started their own group, Safe Wings Ottawa (SWO), as a program of the Ottawa Field Naturalists. The dynamic duo of Anouk and Sarah and their team of SWO volunteers kicked off this spring’s migration with a bird layout at Ottawa City Hall. Tragically, a flock of stunning Bohemian Waxwings that had collided with the city hall’s glass linkway served as a reminder of the vital need for a FLAP-like initiative in our capital city. SWO’s work encompasses bird collision research, prevention and rescue. FLAP Canada wishes them every success in their conservation efforts and we look forward to partnering with them to ensure safe passage for migratory birds. For more information, visit www.safewings.ca.

TOUCHING DOWN, Spring 2016 Editor: Irene Fedun Production: Bea Paterson Proofreader: Vicki Soon-Ai Low Contributor: Angelique Mori Artists: Jackie Besteman N. Drew Chris Kerrigan Angelique Mori Photographers: Mary Barber Scott Hand Leighton Jones

FATAL LIGHT AWARENESS PROGRAM CANADA Tel: (416) 366-FLAP www.flap.org

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Illustration by CHRIS KERRIGAN

Bring Back the Wild The Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird in the world, was once Endangered in Canada, but since the ban on the pesticide DDT in the 1980s the sleek raptor has been slowly making a comeback. However, it remains a Species of Special Concern, with habitat loss and human disturbance as prime threats to its recovery. Peregrines have adapted surprisingly well to life in urban environments, making their nests on skyscrapers in Toronto and other cities. An urban lifestyle brings its own set of challenges though. Young, inexperienced birds on their initial hunting forays are at risk of hitting buildings as they dive and swoop at high speeds in pursuit of their prey – often non-native Rock Doves (pigeons) and sometimes migrating songbirds. FLAP Canada rescue volunteers have picked up 6 Peregrine Falcons (all dead) over 23 years of Toronto patrols, a minuscule percentage of the over 75,000 entries in our database. We know of others that have struck in the Greater Toronto Area, including Mississauga and, recently, Oakville, from an entry in the FLAP MAPPER. We have also scavenged carcasses or feathers of catbirds, mockingbirds, cuckoos and other songbirds as well as the bands of homing pigeons from downtown sites where peregrines are known to nest. Occasionally, a FLAPPER will be walking along the sidewalk and a feather will flutter down, prompting them to look up and, if very lucky, spot a masked bird streaking by. Or we might see this lightning-

quick raptor when least expected. Paloma Plant, FLAP’s program coordinator, was at a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game at the Rogers Centre last fall with her family. It was a lovely day and the dome was open. Most of the fans were riveted to the baseball action, but

Paloma and her kids spotted a peregrine targetting a Rock Dove. He dove and missed. The Peregrine Falcon, Wolverine, Little Brown Bat and Cold-water Coral are the four species chosen to represent “the wild” in Earth Rangers’ annual Bring Back the Wild program this year. Earth Rangers is the kids’ conservation organization, dedicated to educating children and their families


about biodiversity, inspiring them to adopt sustainable behaviours and empowering them to become directly involved in protecting animals and their habitats. To help protect peregrines, they have teamed up with FLAP Canada and the Nature Conservancy of Canada in 2015–2016 to promote birdfriendly building design in Toronto and monitor peregrine breeding and nesting sites in natural areas such as the Alfred-Kelly Nature Reserve in southern Quebec. This will reduce human disturbance of these top predators during the nesting season. Children are encouraged to join Earth Rangers and start a Bring Back the

Wild campaign to help protect the animal of their choice. Earth Rangers’ programs are based on research indicating that the number one environmental concern of children across Canada is protecting animals from extinction. Visit earthrangers.com to get involved. FLAP Canada is grateful to Earth Rangers for partnering with us on this critical campaign to protect the world's fastest winged predator.

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Great Crested Flycatcher

The first time I saw a Great Crested Flycatcher, he or she was scrabbling at my dining room window as I enjoyed a piece of my birthday cake. Every year since then, during the first week of May, these bold migrants return to my backyard. Their emphatic, rising ‘whee-eep’ calls burst from high in the tree tops, serenading me as I go about my gardening tasks. Most people hear the characteristic call of this denizen of the canopy long before they see the bird. The Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is a handsome bird with olivebrown upperparts, a pale gray chest and a custard-yellow belly. Similar plumage adorns both sexes. Each bird sports white eye rings, two whitish wing bars and rufous-cinnamon wings and tail. This robust flycatcher has a noticeably large head and sturdy black bill. I find the “great crested” moniker to be a little misleading since, more often than not, it displays a modest, relaxed crown. However, when the bird is so inclined, its jauntily raised crest gives it a self-assured air. This flycatcher (the only eastern species from the family of tyrant flycatchers) makes its home in northern South America and migrates to eastern North America to nest and raise its young. A cavity nester, it prefers deciduous woodlands near edge habitats; in its tropical wintering grounds it occurs in similar environments. Our societal trend toward sterile landscaping has forced this species to nest in 4

unusual cavities, including such bizarre places as buckets, tin cans and open gutter-pipes, lining them with shed snakeskins or, in this age of throwaways, discarded plastic and cellophane. A pair of Great Crested Flycatchers usually nests in the snags left in our native plant garden. As monogamous breeders and solitary nesters, our pair produces one clutch of four to

eight eggs each summer, with both parents sharing the brood’s care. Protective and territorial, males heartily defend their home turf against any bird perceived to be a threat in intense aerial skirmishes characterized by energetic grappling and feather pulling. Typically, once the young are fledged, the family carouses in nearby tree tops, remaining for several days, making the yard ring with their boisterous calls. Given the scarcity of natural cavities, they readily accept welldesigned nest boxes. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology recommends installing nest boxes early in the

season to entice a breeding pair. Mount a hanging or swinging nest box approximately 12 to 20 feet above the ground in an open woodland setting with clear flight paths to the box opening. Cornell suggests attaching a guard to deter predators. Banding studies indicate that these flycatchers return to the same breeding area every year. The Great Crested Flycatcher is known as a sit-and-wait predator that provides natural pest control. From lofty, exposed perches it peers keenly in all directions, with characteristic bobbing head, then swiftly dashes in pursuit of large insects, returning to the same perch or one nearby. It relishes the abundance of dragonflies that flourish in a vernal pond in our backyard, which may also account for its annual return to our habitat garden. In addition to insects, these large flycatchers will take the occasional amphibian. They also devour fruits and berries with delight, especially in their wintering grounds. Although Great Crested Flycatchers occur very rarely on FLAP lists, we need to remain vigilant, providing habitat for them in our backyards and protecting them and other birds from collisions with our windows. Angelique Mori Angelique is a habitat gardening advocate. Coincidentally, her birthday occurs around the time of the arrival of “her” “tyrant” birds.


Illustration by ANGELIQUE MORI

Bird Profile:

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Go Jay Go!

Photojournalism Student Interns with FLAP

A Blue Jay of the avian kind garnered his fair share of fame last fall. A call to the FLAP office on October 1st sent Violet Pettigrew out to pick up a bird that had hit a 40-storey office tower. Violet recalls that the jay was “very, very active” inside his bag, so much so that she decided to “double-bag” him so the bird didn’t “bust out”! Paloma Plant, FLAP’s program coordinator and in-house rehab expert, did an initial assessment and determined that the bird had a minor shoulder injury. Violet took footage of her examining the Blue Jay and later released it to the TV program Animal House Calls. The Blue Jay spent a week at the Toronto Wildlife Centre recovering from his ordeal. When he was pronounced ready to go, long-time FLAP supporters and drivers Marlene Black and Tim Keele took him out to Marie Curtis Park on Etobicoke’s waterfront and filmed his release (which was posted on FLAP’s Facebook page.) It was all over in seconds. Perhaps it didn’t make for spectacular footage but the great news is that the bird was healthy, feisty and anxious to return to freedom. We thought it rather fitting that this Blue Jay (not a species that we encounter often in our bird rescue patrols) was successfully released at a time when Toronto’s baseball team, the Blue Jays, was doing so well in the playoffs. Now all we need is for the Toronto Blue Jays to go all the way this year…and support our efforts to protect the birds their team is named for.

Mary Barber, a photojournalism student from the Loyalist College School of Media Arts and Design in Belleville, Ontario, did a three-month internship program with FLAP Canada during the fall migration season last year. Mary got up super early each morning, whether it was cold, damp, dreary or wet outside, and followed our rescue volunteers

Giving Arnica to a rescued bird on their patrols to capture some compelling images. Thank you, Mary, for your dedication and great photos. We wish you great success in your career!


In 2016, we celebrate 100 years since the signing of the Convention for the Protection of Migratory Birds between Canada and the United States, the first international treaty to protect wildlife. This treaty became the foundation of efforts to protect birds that cross international borders. FLAP Canada is recognizing this momentous event through partnerships with other wildlife organizations. On April 12, Bird Impact Reduction Day or B.I.R.D., FLAP teamed up with the Canadian Wildlife Federation on a collision prevention campaign. With Nature Canada, we are working to educate homeowners about the two greatest threats to the survival of birds: windows and domestic cats. And there’s Bring Back the Wild with Earth Rangers. The formal launch of BirdSafe™, FLAP Canada’s building standards and risk assessment program, will also draw attention to the migratory bird treaty that, a century ago, first got people thinking about the critical need to protect migratory birds.

Photographs by MARY BARBER

One of many Ovenbirds that died hitting Toronto's office towers last year

Migratory Bird Treaty Centennial

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“I

love FLAP. It’s the organization I support in the biggest way in Canada. I feel my contribution goes the furthest here.” Not only does Ellen Hand make generous donations to our organization, but she also volunteers her time to drive injured birds to rehabilitation centres and finds other ways to advocate for wildlife conservation. Ellen demonstrates her passionate resolve to protect birds from collisions in her letters and emails to contractors and architects about the glass-walled houses being built in her leafy Rosedale neighbourhood and to the Toronto Transit Commission about their transparent – and deadly – bus shelters. Distressed by the number of homes with reflective windows along treed ravines in Toronto, Ellen wrote an article for the South Rosedale Ratepayers newsletter

offering options to prevent bird strikes. She grew up in the suburbs of New York City into a wildlife-loving family. Her grandfather helped the Audubon Society establish a large conservation area. Her brother would bring home snakes, flying squirrels, hurt raccoons. Ellen’s particular passions became turtles and Ellen Hand birds. But she did not take the bird collision issue seriously until “the tiniest little bird” struck her window. It was a male Rubycrowned Kinglet with a bright red spot on his head which Ellen took

to be blood. (She learned later that the colourful patch becomes more prominent when the bird is injured or frightened.) Luckily, this bird was just stunned and soon flew away. But he’d made his mark – Ellen realized it was time to get involved. Ellen and her husband, Scott, who spent time on the board of directors of World Wildlife Fund Canada, may be moving back to the United States later this year. At FLAP Canada, we are immensely grateful for their contributions and we’ll be sorry to see them go. Just because we lose Ellen won’t mean that she stops being involved with wildlife protection though. She plans to volunteer for the Audubon Society, no doubt with bird-building collision at the top of her agenda. Ellen explains her activism very simply, “All living things have the right to exist.”

So Many Ways to Give I was surprised and delighted to discover that I could take out an insurance policy with my favourite charity as the beneficiary. Even more surprising was the amount the charity – FLAP Canada, of course – would receive upon my death. The premiums I paid would increase exponentially, even in the first year! More good news: the premium deposits are fully tax deductible. By making modest, regular deposits to an insurance policy, I can create a substantial legacy at my death – without affecting other estate assets. 6

Here are a few options. Assign FLAP Canada as the beneficiary of your insurance policy and your estate will receive a tax receipt equal to the direct benefit to the charity. If you designate FLAP as the owner of the policy and make the payments on the organization’s behalf, FLAP will issue a tax receipt every year for the amount of the premium deposit. You can transfer ownership of an existing policy to FLAP and get a charitable receipt for the face market value and any premiums paid after the date of

transfer. You can also support bird conservation in your will by leaving a bequest to FLAP Canada, 123 Queen St. W., Box 199, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 3M9, charitable number 14074 6736 RR0001. You'd rather give during your lifetime? Consider matching gifts and employee funding programs, donations of stock and securities or AIR MILES or RBC Avion points. Contact Susan Krajnc at 416-3663527 to discuss the options. Thank you for giving! Irene Fedun


Photograph by SCOTT HAND

DONOR PROFILE: Ellen Hand

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2015 FLAP Data Alive Dead Total

American Coot American Crow American Goldfinch 2 American Redstart 2 American Robin 2 American Tree Sparrow 2 American Woodcock 11 Baltimore Oriole 1 Barn Swallow 1 Bay-breasted Warbler 2 Belted Kingfisher Black and White Warbler 8 Blackburnian Warbler 9 Black-capped Chickadee Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler 7 Black-throated Green Warbler 4 Blue Jay 2 Blue-headed Vireo Brown Creeper 34 Brown Thrasher 1 Brown-headed Cowbird Canada Warbler 2 Cape May Warbler Cedar Waxwing Chestnut-sided Warbler 5 Chipping Sparrow 1 Common Grackle Common Yellowthroat 10 Dark-eyed Junco 27 Dickcissel Downy Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird Eastern Kingbird 1 Eastern Phoebe Eastern Towhee Eastern Whip-poor-will Eastern Wood Pewee European Starling 1 Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow 7 Golden-crowned Kinglet 149 Grasshopper Sparrow 1 Great Crested Flycatcher Gray Catbird 1 Grey-cheeked Thrush 1 Hermit Thrush 29 House Finch House Sparrow 5

1 1 7 13 36 7 23 6 17 1 50 28 8 13 34

1 1 9 15 38 9 34 7 1 19 1 58 37 8 13 41

40 4 7 64 2 1 7 1 29 20 3 6 22 155 1 6 2 3 1 1 1 1 6 1 41 305 1 1 13 13 105 9 27

44 6 7 98 3 1 9 1 29 25 4 6 32 182 1 6 2 4 1 1 1 1 7 1 48 454 2 1 14 14 134 9 32

Species House Wren Indigo Bunting Least Flycatcher Lincoln's Sparrow Magnolia Warbler Mourning Dove Mourning Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Cardinal Northern Flicker Northern Parula Northern Saw Whet Owl Northern Waterthrush Orange-crowned Warbler Orchard Oriole Ovenbird Palm Warbler Philadelphia Vireo Pine Warbler Purple Finch Red-breasted Nuthatch Red-eyed Vireo Red-winged Blackbird Rock/Homing Pigeon Rose-breasted Grosbeak Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Alive Dead Total 1 1 3 10 1 33 7 2

20

2

2 3 1 50

1 3 3 16 62 8 2 138 7 17 6 2 8 8 1 90 7 1 3 2 4 46 2 19 19 189

2 3 4 19 72 9 2 171 7 24 8 2 8 8 1 110 7 1 5 2 4 48 2 22 20 239

Species

Alive Dead Total

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 8 61 69 Scarlet Tanager 8 8 Song Sparrow 5 14 19 Swainson's Thrush 4 59 63 Swamp Sparrow 6 11 17 Tennessee Warbler 14 86 100 Traill's Flycatcher 3 3 Veery 1 10 11 Virginia Rail 1 1 Warbling Vireo 2 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 2 6 8 White-crowned Sparrow 2 8 10 White-throated Sparrow 37 235 272 Wilson's Warbler 3 17 20 Winter Wren 7 7 Wood Duck 1 1 Wood Thrush 2 14 16 Yellow Warbler 1 2 3 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 2 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9 50 59 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 3 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 12 17 Unknown 11 75 86 TOTAL 574 2495 3069 Species at Risk are in Bold

Photograph by LEIGHTON JONES

Species

FLAP Canada’s annual layout of birds that died hitting Greater Toronto Area buildings was held at the Royal Ontario Museum early this spring as part of our public awareness campaign.


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MANY THANKS TO OUR DONORS Echo Foundation Eric S. Margolis Foundation Helen McCrea Peacock Foundation Jackman Foundation

McLean Foundation Patrick Hodgson Family Foundation

Schad Foundation

A heartfelt thank you to our individual donors!

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Email Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada 123 Queen Street West, Box 199, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3M9 Tel.: 416-366-FLAP (3527) • Email: [email protected] • Web: www.flap.org CRA Charity Number 14074 6736 RR0001 Your kind support will enable FLAP Canada to continue its bird rescue and conservation work.

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