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The Boreal Forest at Risk: A Progress Report

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PART 1: HOW MANY LANDBIRDS OF HOW MANY SPECIES ARE PRODUCED IN CANADA'S BOREAL FOREST?

1. a. How many species of landbirds breed in the boreal forest?

Range maps from Environment Canada's Wildspace program show that 222 landbird species breed in Canada's boreal Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). Of these, 78 also have some winter range in the boreal. Nearly 200 landbird species have been recorded on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes within Canada's boreal. Data from both the range maps and the BBS suggest that a total of 227 species of landbirds breed in Canada's boreal region.

Of these, 41 species extend their range to the boreal forest only occasionally or accidentally, as less than an estimated 1% of their population is found there. The remaining 186 species, from 35 landbird families, are regular boreal residents. ³

Of the regular boreal residents, 39 species are circum-boreal in distribution, meaning that they breed in Eurasia as well as North America. For these species, the Partners in Flight (PIF) Technical Committee has estimated rough proportions of their range outside of North America. These estimates have been used in calculating the percentage of the global population found in Canada.⁴

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³ See Appendices A & B for listings of birds found in Canada's boreal regions.
⁴ The Partners in Flight Technical Committee 's North American Landbird Conservation Plan is in preparation.

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