NEW! Bill 5 proposed by the Ontario Government
The Pointer: OP-ED – proposed Bill 5 threatens Ontario wildlife and ecosystems
Mottled Duskywing reintroduction
Rarefied Podcast (season 1, 45 min.): Mottled Duskywing: Butterflies are resilient
Full Length Documentary (Pinegrove Productions): Butterflies on the Brink
> Narrated by Sarah Harmer
> Guelph Today news article about documentary
> 2024 S.O.F.A. Film Festival: Best Feature Film
> Buy the film for educational purposes
> Rent the film from Toronto Public Libraries
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Science in the field special – Reintroducing a rare butterfly to a restored ecosystem
Globe and Mail: Sightings of endangered butterfly in southern Ontario electrify species reintroduction effort
CBC K-W, The Morning Edition (radio): Butterfly on the brink of extinction successfully restored to natural habitat
Global News: First milestone passed in reintroducing endangered butterfly to Ontario park: University of Guelph
TVO Kids (video): Leo’s Pollinators – Mottled Duskywing
Globe and Mail: Endangered mottled duskywing to be reintroduced in Ontario
CTV News: Yeast of butterfly being used in new Guelph brewery beer
CBC: Yeast from rare butterfly harvested to brew fundraising beer
Guelph Today: U of G prof helping to try and save endangered butterfly species
Ontario Nature Magazine (spring 2022): A Blueprint for Recovery?
Canada Jays
KAXE Morning Show (radio): Eager adoptions, sticky spit, and warming winters: Life as a Canada Jay (23 min.)
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Canada jay siblings fight to see who lives at home, and who moves out
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Quirks listener question – Food caching
Ontario Nature Magazine (winter 2021, cover): Warning sign: is the decline of Canada Jays in Algonquin Park a harbinger of things to come?
New York Times: The magic of birds
Northern Wilds: Freezers on the Fritz: Climate Change Threatens Canada Jays’ Food Cache Sites
TVO Kids (video, Fifth Ground Entertainment): Secret Forests: “Forest Frezer” episode (15 min.)
Algonquin Defining Moments Podcast: The Amazing World of the Canada Jay (1 hr, 5 min.)
Canadian Geographic: Oh Canada jay! The story behind an icon-in-the-making
CBC’s Nature of Things (host: David Suzuki): What Trees Talk About (season 57, episode 9)
> watch trailer
The Conversation: Oh, Canada! The Canada jay gets its name back in time for the holiday
CBC: Canada jay numbers in southern Ontario decreasing because of climate change, study suggests
TVO: Creatures vs. climate: The Canada jay
Living Bird Magazine (winter 2018 issue): Spoiler Alert: Can Canada Jays Survive Warmer Weather?
Audubon Magazine: Thanks To Climate Change, Canada Jays May Eat Freezer-Burned Food All Winter
The Raven (Algonquin Park): Let’s Hear it for the Canada Jay! [PDF]
Canadian Geographic: How the Canada jay got its name back
PBS (Learning Media for Teachers, video, 3 min, 30 sec.): Behavioral Adaptations: The Gray Jay
> site includes Teaching Tips, Support Materials, and Handouts
CBC Ontario Today (radio): Nominating Canada’s national bird
Audubon Magazine: The Gray Jay Will Officially Be Called the Canada Jay Again
Ontario Birds: How the Canada Jay Lost it’s Name and Why it Matters* [PDF]
*authored by Dan Strickland, this article explains how Dan, through historical research, successfully petitioned the American Ornithologists Union to officially change the name of the “Gray Jay” to “Canada Jay”. A fascinating story!
CBC: The whisky jack may soon become Canada’s national bird
Canadian Geographic: Meet our national bird: the gray jay
CBC: How young female birds benefit from an older male partner
BirdWatch Canada: Trying to Understand the Amazing Canada Jay [PDF]
BirdWatch Canada: A Half Century of Canadian Gray Jay Studies [PDF]
UK Guardian: The birds and the trees
Highway 413 and the Greenbelt
Toronto Star: Op-Ed – Highway 413 poses a serious threat to many of our most endangered species
Toronto Star: Op-Ed – “Saturday Debate” Do we need Highway 413?
CBC: Proposed Highway 413 would pave over precious nature reserve in Vaughan, biologist says
York Region: ‘So little habitat left’: Biologist says environmental study ‘properly done’ would end Hwy. 413 bid
CBC: Ford government’s proposed changes to Greenbelt could spell trouble, environmental experts warn
TVO: Why Ontario shouldn’t pave paradise to put up a highway
CityNews: Calls to scrap highway 413
York Region: Proposed Highway 413 in Vaughan would be ‘chipping away at biodiversity’
Globe and Mail: Ontario battle over Highway 413 casts light on flawed species-protection rules
Toronto Star: Op-Ed: Want to talk stag and doe? Let’s focus on the real ones at risk.
CBC: How the tiny western chorus frog could stop Doug Ford’s Highway 413
TVO: Meet the scientist working to stop Highway 413
Migration and Song
Ontario Nature Magzine (spring 2025, cover): As the Dragon Flies
Audubon Magazine (spring 2022): The Pioneering Collaboration will Open a New Window into Bird Migration
Toronto Star: Dragonflies with tiny fanny packs show migration patterns
CBC: How do birds learn to sing? Based on sounds heard during early life: study
Discover Magazine: Wild Sparrows Learn Experimental Songs
The Conversation: Birds wearing backpacks trace a path to conservation
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Birds have a compass, not a map
The Wildlife Society: Tiny blackpoll warblers fly 12,500 miles in yearly migrations
Toronto Star: Ontario researcher track ‘incredible’ 20,000 kilometre songbird migration
Canadian Geographic: The “fly-or-die” migration of the blackpoll warbler
New York Times: For Blackpoll Warbler, a Lot of Flying for a Lightweight
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Tiny Warbler Makes a Marathon Migration
Globe and Mail: Backpacking birds prove long-shot theory
CBC: Backpack geolocators no apparent burden for migrating songbirds
Toronto Star: How the Savannah sparrow’s song has changed over 30 years
National Post: This tiny songbird makes a 14,600-km migration each year from Alaska to Africa
NBC News: Flight record: Songbirds trek 9,000 miles to Africa
Toronto Star: 25-gram songbird makes miracle migration to Africa each year
CBC: Birds with best feathers moult earlier
Science: Lean Winters Hinder Birds’ Summertime Breeding Efforts
Monarch butterflies
CBC: Monarch butterflies harmed by common neonic pesticides, study suggests
CTV News: Study suggests neonic pesticides harming monarch butterfly eggs
Globe and Mail: Study suggests neonic pesticides harming monarch butterfly eggs
CTV News (video): Monarch butterfly classified as endangered species
The Pointer: Endangered designation for monarch reignites conservation efforts, but Ontario remains hostile ground
The Conversation: Monarch butterflies raised in captivity can still join the migration
CBC: Monarch butterflies raised in captivity may not migrate to Mexico
Globe and Mail: Roadsides not best place for planting monarch-critical milkweed, study finds
Globe and Mail: Monarch butterflies threatened by GM crops in U.S., study says
Smithsonian Magazine: How This Popular Garden Plant May Spread Parasites That Harm Monarchs
CBC: Monarch butterfly numbers up 144% at Mexico wintering grounds
CBC: Milkweed location affects monarch butterfly success, says study
Globe and Mail: Loss of milkweed linked to plummeting number of monarch butterflies: study
Scientific America: Monarch Butterflies under Threat from Rising Herbicide Use
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): A new hope to save Monarch butterflies
CBC: Monarch butterfly numbers drop to new lows
CBC: Scientists call for tri-national conservation effort to save monarch butterfly
CBC Quirks and Quarks (National Science Radio Show): Monarch Butterflies Navigate Without Map
Globe and Mail: Flight of the navigators: Study stirs debate on how monarchs migrate
Guelph Mercury Tribune: University of Guelph researchers map the monarchs
CBC: Monarchs migrate over mountains: study
CBC: How monarch butterflies find their way to Mexico
CBC: Monarch butterflies make surprise appearance in central Alberta
CBC Quirks and Quarks: Marathon Monarch Migration
Domestic Cats
Audubon Magazine (spring 2024): Why Is it So Hard to Keep Cats Indoors?
Animalogic (video, 21 min.): Cats Kill Billions Of Birds Every Year. It’s Time For That To Stop
Global News (video): Secret lives of cats: ‘Cat-cam’ research study heading to B.C.
Global News: Guelph researchers enlisting feline volunteers for ‘catcam’ study
CTV News (video): Paws-itively fascinating: U of G researchers using ‘catcams’ to study how felines behave outdoors
Guelph Mercury: U of Guelph researchers use ‘catcams’ to study felines’ outdoor behaviour
Guelph Today: ‘Cat cams’ show just what your cat gets up to in the course of the day
McLean’s Magazine: The Problem with Cats
Guelph Today: There are a heck of a lot of outdoor kitty-cats in this town
Waterloo Region Record: Thousands of cats roam free in Guelph: study
Jefferson Salamanders
The Weather Network: How cold-blooded creatures settle in and prepare for the winter
Waterloo Region Record: North Dumfries pond reveals a biological rarity: three species of salamander, including one that clones itself, all living together
Other Conservation Issues
Globe and Mail: New federal initiative will buy up private land around 10 national parks for conservation efforts
CBC: As development grows, so does decline of this songbird that calls Ontario’s Waterloo region home
Local interest news articles
Waterloo Region Record: Hummingbirds are coming back to Canada right now. Here’s how you could save the life of an early arriver — and track their migration
CTV News – Kitchener (video): Being woken up by crows lately? An expert explains why
Waterloo Region Record: In full flight — four billion birds on the move as the seasons turn
Waterloo Region Record: ‘Total dudes’? What these infertile squirrels may tell us about climate change
Waterloo Region Record: What is the national bird of Pakistan doing in Kitchener-Waterloo?
Guelph Tribune: There’s something in the air