birds

B.C. Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham speaks during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Friday July 5, 2019. Farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are facing “intense disease pressure,” with an avian flu outbreak in commercial farms that the agriculture minister says is concerning. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. ‘doing everything’ it can to stop bird flu, minister says, as infections spread

Lana Popham says normally avian flu aligns with bird migration seasons, but not this year

 

A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on Monday, April 18, 2022. Experts say outbreaks of H5N1 represent an unprecedented threat to Canada, infecting about 200 flocks with about 3.5 million birds nationwide. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Republican-Herald, Lindsey Shuey

Bird flu fighters in B.C. face unprecedented challenge, as H5N1 spreads across Canada

H5N1 has infected about 200 flocks with more than 3.5 million birds Canada-wide this year

 

Dr. Chris Shepherd, right, with his daughters Raven, left, and Robyn, at the Scout Island Nature Centre on Oct. 20, 2022. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

B.C.-based researcher working to address global illegal wildlife trade

Dr. Chris Shepherd is based in Big Lake after decades in Malaysia and Indonesia

 

FILE - Luke DeGroote holds a Tennessee warbler for a closeup after getting caught in a long net at the Powdermill Avian Research center on May 8, 2018, near Rector, Pa. A new online atlas of bird migration, published on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, draws from an unprecedented number of scientific and community data sources to illustrate the routes of about 450 bird species in the Americas. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP, File)

New atlas of bird migration shows extraordinary journeys

Online collection illustrates the routes of about 450 bird species in the Americas

FILE - Luke DeGroote holds a Tennessee warbler for a closeup after getting caught in a long net at the Powdermill Avian Research center on May 8, 2018, near Rector, Pa. A new online atlas of bird migration, published on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, draws from an unprecedented number of scientific and community data sources to illustrate the routes of about 450 bird species in the Americas. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP, File)
A peacock displays it feathers at the Toronto zoo in Toronto on Thursday, March 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Pete the peacock remains on the lam about two months after escape from N.B. garden

Owners hope proud bird avoiding foxes, can be located strutting somewhere around the countryside

A peacock displays it feathers at the Toronto zoo in Toronto on Thursday, March 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
(BC SPCA)

BC SPCA caring for 99 budgies found in West Kelowna home

Surrendered due to health and sanitation issues

(BC SPCA)
File photo (Jill Hayward photo)

Gang of turkeys attacks B.C. man, breaking both his hips and a finger

RCMP told the birds are scheduled to ‘receive the death penalty for their crimes’

File photo (Jill Hayward photo)
A Canada goose family enjoys a Monday morning breakfast together at Oak Bay’s Kitty Islet. Bruce Harrison of Ducks Unlimited Canada said the abundance of geese in B.C. causes water contamination, algae blooms and messy sports fields. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Canada goose poop problem in Greater Victoria needs new solutions, experts say

Egg sterilization only goes so far; robotic fox, feces Zamboni tried elsewhere

A Canada goose family enjoys a Monday morning breakfast together at Oak Bay’s Kitty Islet. Bruce Harrison of Ducks Unlimited Canada said the abundance of geese in B.C. causes water contamination, algae blooms and messy sports fields. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Laskeek Bay Conservation Society monitors black oystercatchers on Haida Gwaii. (Photo: supplied)

Scientists on Haida Gwaii find oldest black oystercatcher on record

At 27 years she’s not a spring chicken but still in good shape

Laskeek Bay Conservation Society monitors black oystercatchers on Haida Gwaii. (Photo: supplied)
A Nazca booby rests on driftwood approximately four nautical miles south from the Trial Islands Ecological Reserve on July 24. Whale watcher Tasli Shaw sighted the bird, which only breeds as far north as southern California, for the first time on record in the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary the day before. (Photo by Matt Stolmeier)

Rare bird sighting off Oak Bay excites whale watchers, leaves birders jealous

First Nazca booby observed in Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, 3rd in B.C.

A Nazca booby rests on driftwood approximately four nautical miles south from the Trial Islands Ecological Reserve on July 24. Whale watcher Tasli Shaw sighted the bird, which only breeds as far north as southern California, for the first time on record in the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary the day before. (Photo by Matt Stolmeier)
A black oystercatcher in south Oak Bay is pictured hunting for food between Victoria Golf Club and Kitty Islet. Waterfowl and raptors remain the wild bird groups at highest risk of avian flu, which has emerged in various species in B.C. since February. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Canada’s avian flu outbreak: Should the bird feeders go?

BCSPCA says feeders and baths pose risk, others prioritize poultry

A black oystercatcher in south Oak Bay is pictured hunting for food between Victoria Golf Club and Kitty Islet. Waterfowl and raptors remain the wild bird groups at highest risk of avian flu, which has emerged in various species in B.C. since February. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Bald eagle populations in the southwestern part of the province are suffering (Courtesy Photo / Jack Beedle).

B.C. bald eagle nest success threatened amid avian influenza outbreaks

Province is monitoring troublesome conditions for eagles in southwestern B.C.

Bald eagle populations in the southwestern part of the province are suffering (Courtesy Photo / Jack Beedle).
A baby red-tailed hawk, right, originally captured as live food for an eaglet, left, has become part of a family of eagles on Gabriola Island. The eagles are feeding and caring for it after the eaglet wouldn’t kill it when it was brought to the nest in early June. (Photo courtesy Sharron Palmer-Hunt)

Food becomes family member for eagles on Gabriola Island

Red-tailed hawklet brought to the nest as food instead gets adopted by eagles near Nanaimo

A baby red-tailed hawk, right, originally captured as live food for an eaglet, left, has become part of a family of eagles on Gabriola Island. The eagles are feeding and caring for it after the eaglet wouldn’t kill it when it was brought to the nest in early June. (Photo courtesy Sharron Palmer-Hunt)
A great blue heron, which is listed on the Species at Risk Act, waits for breakfast on an early morning in South Oak Bay between Kitty Islet and the Victoria Golf Club. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Federal report deems dogs the greatest risk to migratory birds

Off-leash dogs, disturbed birds throughout Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary

A great blue heron, which is listed on the Species at Risk Act, waits for breakfast on an early morning in South Oak Bay between Kitty Islet and the Victoria Golf Club. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Two sandhill cranes are pictured during a summer visit to Panama Flats in Saanich. They cranes are rarely seen on the ground in Greater Victoria due to the region’s lack of wetland habitat. (Courtesy of Geoffrey Newell)

PHOTOS: Sandhill cranes swoop back to Panama Flats

Species returns for summer wetland visit, frog feast

Two sandhill cranes are pictured during a summer visit to Panama Flats in Saanich. They cranes are rarely seen on the ground in Greater Victoria due to the region’s lack of wetland habitat. (Courtesy of Geoffrey Newell)
An image commuter Zahra Ahmdz says she took at the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station on March 22, 2022 appears to show a pigeon dead inside a cage. (Credit: Zahra Ahmdz)

Dead pigeons in SkyTrain cages not neglect but caused by hawk killings: pest control company

More than 2,000 people have signed a petition over concerns arouund the dead birds

An image commuter Zahra Ahmdz says she took at the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain station on March 22, 2022 appears to show a pigeon dead inside a cage. (Credit: Zahra Ahmdz)
The B.C. Government has received reports of suspected avian flu in pelicans across the Cariboo. (Kelly Sinoski photo — 100 Mile Free Press)

Colonies of endangered pelicans in Northern B.C. test positive for avian flu

Reports of sick pelicans in the Cariboo at Williams Lake, Alkali, Puntzi and Bouchie lakes.

The B.C. Government has received reports of suspected avian flu in pelicans across the Cariboo. (Kelly Sinoski photo — 100 Mile Free Press)
FILE - A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on April 18, 2022. An outbreak of avian flu is forcing farmers to cull their flocks and leading to concerns about even higher food prices. While it doesn’t pose much of a threat to humans, the outbreak is prompting a new wave of some of the same conspiracy theories that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Lindsey Shuey/Republican-Herald via AP, File)

VIDEO: Bird flu hatches conspiracy theories amid COVID-19

Conspiracy theorists claim bird flu isn’t real and emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic

FILE - A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., on April 18, 2022. An outbreak of avian flu is forcing farmers to cull their flocks and leading to concerns about even higher food prices. While it doesn’t pose much of a threat to humans, the outbreak is prompting a new wave of some of the same conspiracy theories that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Lindsey Shuey/Republican-Herald via AP, File)
Adam Ross, 13, leads bird census walks and talks with the Friends of Bowker Creek Society. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

Oak Bay 13-year-old brings birding class to the shores of Bowker Creek

Middle school ornithologist leads walks for friends society

Adam Ross, 13, leads bird census walks and talks with the Friends of Bowker Creek Society. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
Great blue herons are often seen in Saanich near wetlands, including at Swan Lake. (Photo by Robert Fraser)

Actions to protect feathered friends earn Saanich bird-friendly city status

Efforts by the municipality’s Saanich bird team recognized with Nature Canada award

Great blue herons are often seen in Saanich near wetlands, including at Swan Lake. (Photo by Robert Fraser)