Bird observatory is North America’s first to hit 3/4 million mark

LONG POINT, ON – The Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO) reached a major milestone on April 7, becoming the first North American migration monitoring station to band 750,000 birds.
   
The bird was banded at LPBO’s Old Cut Field Station by longtime Bird Studies Canada volunteer Hugh McArthur. The bird was a Brown Creeper (Certhia americana). This small songbird is a resident throughout much of Canada and the northern United States, with many of the birds migrating south to the U.S. each winter.
 
Scientists have been banding birds at LPBO every year since 1960. Banders record information such as the bird’s wing length, species, age, fat content, sex, and weight. Together with the efforts of other stations in Canada, the U.S., and Central and South America, the information collected has helped establish global ranges and population trends for hundreds of species.

LPBO is North America’s oldest and most productive bird observatory, and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010. LPBO is a program of Bird Studies Canada (BSC), which administers national, regional, and international research and monitoring programs that advance the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of wild birds and their habitats. BSC is Canada’s national body for bird conservation, and is a non-governmental charitable organization.