Grassland birds in crisis on the Canadian Prairies, conservationists warn

A national bird conservation organization says grassland habitat loss on the Prairies has created a "conservation crisis" for dozens of species of birds.

The crisis is illustrated in a new State of Canada's Birds report published Tuesday by Birds Canada in partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The report is the third of its kind. Similar reports were published in 2019 and 2012.

It says that since 1970, when dependable bird count data started being kept, birds living full or part time in Prairie grasslands have declined by 67 per cent.

They include burrowing owls, Sprague's pipit, numerous species of sparrows and longspurs, and more.

Birds that live primarily or only in Prairie grassland areas have declined by 90 per cent over that same time period, the report shows.

"Canada's grassland birds are running out of time," the report says.

"The native grasslands on which they depend are the most endangered habitat in the country, putting these birds at the epicentre of a conservation crisis."

Key habitat under threat

Ian Cook, a grassland conservation manager for Birds Canada, said the widespread population decline is a result of the grasslands being destroyed or fragmented by cropland and urban expansion, the energy industry and climate change.

"Mostly that loss of grassland habitat is the conversion of grasslands to cropland," said Cook. "It often makes little to no financial sense for farmers and ranchers to choose to keep grasslands intact and raise cows, if they could be growing annual crops instead.

"That's not to say that crop farming is bad or easy — it's important and it's difficult," he said.

"But it is recognizing that there is an urgent need here to address grassland bird and biodiversity loss. Because it is being driven by the loss of these grasslands, which are now one of the most endangered habitats in Canada and on the planet."

Cook said about 1,840 square kilometres of grassland is lost on the Prairies every year.

"So that does work out to about, on average, a hectare of grassland every three minutes," he said.

Endangered longspurs, burrowing owls

The report says one grassland bird that has especially declined with receding grasslands is the chestnut-collared longspur.

This endangered songbird's population has decreased by almost 95 per cent over the past 50 years, it says.

There are an estimated 3.1 million chestnut-collared longspurs in the world, and just under 700,000 of them are in Canada.

The burrowing owl is another species at risk of disappearing from Canada altogether, the report says.

"The burrowing owl was once a common breeding bird in the dry grasslands of Western Canada, but it has become very rare."

The most recent population estimate for Canada, completed in 2017, says there were 270 burrowing owls left on the Prairies. In 2006, the population was thought to be between 800 and 1,600.

Cook said habitat loss poses major issues for grassland birds during nesting season, as they can be more exposed to predators hunting for eggs or baby birds, or because these birds aren't able to find a place to nest whatsoever.

"Then the reproductive success of these birds declines," he said.

"That's what's really leading to these grassland bird losses."

Included in the report are five action areas the organization hopes individuals and governments will take on to reverse the trend.

Cook said the organization wants the public to understand the value of grassland areas, not only for the bird habitat it provides but also its ability to sequester carbon dioxide and mitigate floods.

He also said buying Canadian grass-fed beef helps sustain grasslands, as would government action on climate change.

"That's another threat to these birds — extreme weather events ... brought on by climate change."

Cook said he believes the problem grassland birds are facing is solvable.

"This report tells us that when we understand a problem really well, and we take deliberate and effective action to address those problems, we can do really incredible things for bird conservation," he said, adding the report also identifies healthy waterfowl and wetland bird population increases.

"Many of them were on the brink of extinction earlier in this century. But because we set our minds to it and we invested in it, we recovered a lot of those species. And now those groups of birds are one of the best conservation success stories in North America," he said.

"It gives me a lot of hope that we can do this if we set our minds to it."