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The Importance of Canada's Boreal Forest to Landbirds

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PART 2: HOW SIGNIFICANT ARE BOREAL LANDBIRDS THROUGHOUT CANADA, NORTH AMERICA AND THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE?

2. a. What proportion of Canada's landbirds are produced in the boreal forest?

Estimates from BBS and BBC data indicate that about 60% of Canada's landbirds breed in the boreal forest (see Table 4), or almost 30% of landbirds in Canada and the United States combined. Several landbird families are reliant on the boreal forest for most of their Canadian population. Canada's warblers are particularly reliant on the boreal forest; approximately three out of every four of them are found there. In fact, about 50% of the world's population of the 37 warbler species that live in Canada live in the boreal forest (see Table 4).

Table 4: Estimated Proportion of Canada's Landbirds that Breed in the Boreal Forest, by Family       Canadian Species % of Canada's Landbirds Breeding in Boreal % of Global Population Breeding in Boreal *     Family   BB Survey BB Census BBS & Range     Regulidae (Kinglets) 2 69% 62% 56%     Parulidae (Wood-Warblers) 37 76% 71% 51%     Emberizidae (Sparrows & Allies) 31 66% 67% 40%     Vireonidae (Vireos) 8 65% 52% 38%     Alcedinidae (Kingfishers) 1 70% 11% 38%     Turdidae (Thrushes) 13 67% 65% 36%     Tyrranidae (Flycatchers) 18 67% 52% 30%     Bombycillidae (Waxwings) 2 55% 26% 30%     Picidae (Woodpeckers) 14 64% 63% 25%     Paridae (Chickadees & Allies) 6 50% 43% 20%     Corvidae (Jays, Crows & Allies) 8 62% 63% 18%     Troglodytidae (Wrens) 8 57% 33% 18%     Fringillidae (Finches) 12 55% 46% 18%     Falconidae (Falcons) 5 54% 51% 15%     Sittidae (Nuthatches) 3 42% 36% 14%     25 other landbird families 108 29% 29% 2%     All Canadian Landbirds * 276 62% 62% 20%                   * includes only those landbird species with Canadian breeding populations as recorded by BBS and/or BBC

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