Creating a bird-friendly city
Fun fact: four of the
10 smallest birds in North America are found in Vaughan! To make the community more
welcoming and safer for birds, the City of Vaughan is taking steps to further protect our feathered friends
– and you can get involved! Here’s how:
Join Vaughan’s Bird Team
You can help advance the City of Vaughan to Bird-Friendly Certification! Through Nature Canada, recruitment is underway for the Vaughan Bird Team. The Bird Team’s mission is to protect the birds in Vaughan by:
- creating safer urban environments.
- mitigating key threats.
- protecting and restoring natural habitats.
- increasing climate resiliency.
- conducting community outreach and education.
The Bird Team may consist of naturalist groups, birding clubs, environmental organizations, municipal staff, IndigenousPeoples, businesses, educational institutions, researchers and citizens. No skill level or birding experience is required to participate. Recruitment is open to all Vaughan residents until Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 Interested? Email environment@vaughan.ca to begin the process.
Watch a bird-friendly webinar
Check out a bird-friendly webinar! Hosted in partnership with Nature Canada and FLAP Canada, the webinar highlights the importance of World Migratory Bird Day, the impacts of light pollution on birds and motivates the community to take action. The webinar can be accessed any time at vaughan.ca/environment.
Make your home bird-safe
You can save a great number of birds – at home! Here are some tips:
- Plant a native, bird-friendly garden. Bird-friendly gardens provide both shelter and food. Some examples of trees, shrubs and flowers you can plant include maple and oak trees, milkweed, harebell, hawthorn, juniper, dogwoods, coneflowers, and black-eyed susans.
- Tweak your daily routine. At night, turn off lights or draw the blinds to prevent light-seeking birds from crashing into windows. You can also mark windows with bird-friendly coverings/tape to make them visible to birds when flying. Refer to FLAP Canada for window covering guidelines.
- Be a conscious consumer. When shopping for items such as coffee, chocolate and paper products, look for certifications like Bird-Friendly, Rainforest Alliance or Forestry Stewardship Council; these certifications help protect bird habitats.
Do you know why birds are so important to protect? Birds play an essential role in maintaining healthy and resilient ecosystems – they help to pollinate plants, disperse seeds and control insects. Birds also provide vital sources of information. By studying them, we can understand the overall health of the ecosystem, collect statics about the environment and more.
In the last 50 years, North American bird populations have dropped by more than 25 per cent. Three-million birds, including urban species that live in Vaughan, are gone due to domestic cats, and collisions with cars and windows. This is why it is so important to protect them!
How is the City taking action? Initiatives related to threat reduction, habitat protection and restoration, cutting carbon emissions and community education are underway. Below are some examples:
- Updated in 2020, the Animal Control By-law 066-2020 helps protect wildlife, and provide guidelines about licensing cats, running at large and leash requirements. The By-law assists in reducing the threat of predation to birds.
- In May 2022, through the City’s Sustainability Metrics Program, Vaughan Council endorsed the City’s Bird-Safe Design Standards to ensure all new private and City-owned developments meet certain sustainability requirements with bird-safe design treatments.
- In June 2022, Vaughan Council passed a Member’s Resolution (PDF) for the City to become a Bird-Friendly City, through Nature Canada. Nature Canada has developed a standard to certify eligible municipalities and recognize contributions made to save birds. The City is striving for this certification.
For more information, visit vaughan.ca/environment. This webpage also lists additional conversation tips, bird-watching locations and species seen in Vaughan.
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