Hamilton becomes sixth city in Canada to earn 'bird friendly' designation

Hamilton is now the sixth community in Canada — and third in Ontario — to earn the "Bird Friendly City" designation.

The recognition was made by Nature Canada as part of its initiative to raise awareness about the declining bird population in North America.

It also is the result of "15 months of hard work" by Bird Friendly City Hamilton-Burlington, according to member Barry Coombs.

He said even though they gained the certification at an entry level, he's hoping the City of Hamilton will help the group get to a higher level. 

"Councillor [Nrinder] Nann has been our biggest supporter on council, by far, and we're extremely grateful for that support," he said.

"But we hope that certification will draw much more attention to the problems that we have with protecting the birds in the city."

Nann said in the release that the certification is "truly great."

"This initiative enables us to be responsible and responsive to continuing to foster an environment in our city that cares for all species."

Jen Baker, the land manager at Hamilton Naturalists' Club — the organization that helped announce recently that the peregrine falcon had been voted by residents as unofficial city bird — told CBC Hamilton that the group is "thrilled" at the certification.

The poll was part of the efforts by Bird Friendly City Hamilton-Burlington to help achieve the designation. 

"Initiatives like the one Bird Friendly City Hamilton-Burlington has worked hard to achieve, fall in line with many of the goals that our working group hopes to see become a reality for our city," Baker said. 

What the certification means

According to Nature Canada's website, a bird friendly city includes: 

• A Bird Team that oversees and leads the initiatives
• Major threats to birds being "effectively mitigated"
• Actively engaged community members that admire and monitor local bird populations
• Progressive municipal policies are created to protect urban bird populations

Coombs said the certification is only step one for the volunteer-run group in what is a "long-term project."

"Every year from now on, we have to submit a report card to Nature Canada. And we have to prove that we are continuing to work toward an even better situation in the city."

Tips for residents who want to make their neighbourhood bird friendly

Coombs also laid out some of the things the average resident can do to help birds in the city.

• Plant the right garden: "[People] can plant native plants in their gardens, which help birds and pollinators."
• Choose the right coffee: "Drink bird-friendly coffee, [this] helps preserve the habitat for the birds where coffee is made."
• Keep cats indoors: "Some studies say up to a billion birds a year are killed by outdoor cats, and veterinarians will tell you that indoor cats live longer, and they're healthier, so there's no reason to have cats roaming."
• Look at your windows: "If they have a backyard with a lot of birds in it, treat windows with what we'll call bird friendly window treatments, so little dots stuck on your windows.
• Write to councillors: "Ask them to support bird friendly measures."

He says the last one is particularly important so governments are encouraged to take more action, such as joining the Lights Out program. 

"Forty-four North American cities right now, including New York City and Toronto, have Lights Out programs during migration," he said. 

This means cities will turn off unnecessary lighting during migration seasons to prevent birds from getting disoriented and crashing into windows.

"The other big project [we are working on] is trying to get Hamilton to adopt bird friendly measures in the building code."