City tops submissions in Great Backyard Bird Count
Saskatoon residents counted more than 38 species during the Great Backyard Bird Count earlier this month.
According to Nature Saskatchewan, Saskatoon residents submitted the highest number of checklists during the count in Saskatchewan, accounting for 97 of the 348 checklists submitted from the province. Overall in Saskatchewan, 59 bird species were counted.
Across Saskatchewan, top species counted included the Canada goose, snow bunting and mallard.
According to Lacey Weekes of Nature Saskatchewan, birds are bioindicators that can show what is happening in our environment.
“The more people we have on the ground counting birds the more data we can collect that will help researchers better understand birds and how best to conserve their habitat,” she wrote in a statement.
The Great Backyard Bird Count took place Feb. 15 to 19.
During last year’s count, people from more than 100 countries took part, counting more than 6,400 species.
The data collected helps researchers understand how things like weather and climate change affect bird populations, why some species appear in larger numbers in some years and not others, the timing of bird migrations and how diseases affect birds in different regions, according to Birdcount.org.
The first count was held in 1998.