Plans and Implementation - BCR 6: Boreal Taiga Plains
Partners in Flight British Columbia and Yukon logoPartners in Flight British Columbia and Yukon bannerPartners in Flight logo
 
HomeAbout PIFPlans and implementationHow to get involvedNews and linksContacts
 


Bird Conservation Region Bird Conservation Region 3 Bird Conservation Region 4 Bird Conservation Region 5 Bird Conservation Region 6 Bird Conservation Region 9 Bird Conservation Region 10

Bird Conservation Region 9 (Canada's Great Basin is the current conservation priority for PIF BC/Yukon.

 

Boreal Taiga Plains (BTP 6):

Planning and Implementation:

Landbird conservation planning is yet to be fully initiated within BCR 6. The following summarizes a draft list of priority species, habitats and conservation concerns for landbirds within this region (BC only)

Boreal Taiga Plains: Bird Conservation Region #6
BC Ecoprovinces: Boreal Plains, Taiga Plains
 
Status Summary:
140 landbird species in BC
Number of PIF priority species  

33

Number of COSEWIC-listed species

 

2

Number of provincially-listed species

 

11

Number of species with high regional responsibilitya

 

50

 

 

 

Trends b

Whole BCR

BC/YK Portion

Number of species with no trend data

50

140

Number of species declining

26

N/A

Number of species increasing

19

N/A

 

 

 

Breeding Bird Surveysc

3 routes

Christmas Bird Counts

X

Migration Monitoring Stations

none in BC

Additional Monitoring Programs

none in BC

 

Draft list of priority landbird species and their habitats*

 
Conifer Mixed Wood Riparian/Marsh
Bay-breasted Warbler 2 Baltimore Oriole Le Conte's Sparrow2
Black-backed Woodpecker Broad-winged Hawk2 Marsh Wren
Bohemian Waxwing Canada Warbler2 Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow2
Boreal Owl Connecticut Warbler2

Alder Flycatcher
Cape May Warbler2 Merlin Black-throated Green Warbler2
Great Gray Owl Philadelphia Vireo2 Least Flycatcher
Magnolia Warbler Rose-breasted Grosbeak Ruffed Grouse
Northern Goshawk Tennessee Warbler  
Northern Hawk Owl   Grass
Sharp-shinned Hawk Shrub Northern Harrier
Three-toed Woodpecker Clay-colored Sparrow Short-eared Owl1,2
  Mourning Warbler  
Agriculture   Rock
Eastern Phoebe Woodland Peregrine Falcon 1,2
  Northern Shrike  
 
abased on abundance in Bird Conservation Region relative to abundance within North American range (i.e. PIF Area Importance Score≥4)
bBCR trends based on US analysis of longest run of data from Breeding Bird Survey, BC/YK trends based on CWS analysis of same data (Appendix 1B)
cNumber of BBS routes run in the 1990’s
*Habitat classes based on provincial bird-habitat associations. Bird-habitat associations will be modified in BCR-level plans to reflect regional variation.
1listed as endangered, threatened or special concern by COSEWIC
2listed in red or blue at risk categories by BC Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management

 

 

NORTHERN ROCKIES
BIRD CONSERVATION REGION #6
% PRIORITY SPECIES WITHIN EACH HABITAT CLASS
Migration monitoring stations of BCR 6 Graph of percentage priority species within each habitat class
Migration
Monitoring Stations highlighted

 

 

Conservation Issues:

High regional responsibility for western range of many species unique to this ecoregion. Poor to very limited data for BC populations. Overall, this BCR has highest percentage of species with no or inadequate BC-wide population data. Increasing habitat degradation due to continued high levels of oil/gas exploration resulting in forest fragmentation and increased access. High levels of habitat loss and degradation are often overlooked, potential impacts are poorly studied and baseline data is inadequate. Continued threats due to forestry, including loss of large patches of mature/old growth forest, snags and large trees. Increased marketability of hardwood products could increase threats to mixed-wood communities and deciduous riparian areas. Increasing land conversion to agriculture and overgrazing threatens grassland, riparian and forest communities. Fragmentation and habitat loss through above may degrade surrounding habitat for landbirds through increases in depredation by or competition with species better adapted to agriculture or forest clearings (e.g. cowbirds, great horned owls, crows).

Monitoring Needs:

  • Increased BBS coverage

  • Habitat-based monitoring programs for conifer, mixed-wood, marsh and riparian habitats.

  • Species-based monitoring programs for owls, diurnal raptors and woodpeckers

  • Programs monitoring productivity

  • Habitat-based inventories of landbirds

Research Needs:

  • Effects of alternative silvicultural on forest bird community composition and productivity in both conifer-dominated and mixed wood systems

  • Effects of oil/gas exploration, particularly fragmentation, habitat degradation and increased access on species composition and productivity

  • Landscape-level analysis of cumulative effects of land use on species composition and productivity

Conservation Needs:

  • Partnerships with forest, oil and hydro industries to monitor and evaluate effects of alternative harvesting and exploration techniques and hydroelectric projects on landbirds

  • Increased emphasis of cumulative effects in land-use decision making

  • Partnered stewardship plans and programs for threatened riparian, grassland and wetland habitats.

 

 

Bird Conservation Region 3 Bird Conservation Region 5 Bird Conservation Region 6 Bird Conservation Region 9 Bird Conservation Region 10 Bird Conservation Region 4
© 2006 Partners in Flight BC and Yukon | update: 15 January 2006