Here's a really good article, well worth the time to read, written by Scott Weidensaul appearing on The Nature Conservancy's website. For so many birds we see during spring migration, the boreal forest is their destination. Converting any part of the forest means fewer places for these birds to live.
"In Canada, an alliance of industry, First Nations and conservation groups is working to set aside half of the largest intact forest in the world before it is logged over, mined or drilled. That is, if plans for a massive new pipeline don't outpace protection efforts."
"For an ornithologist like Jeff Wells, what sets the boreal forest apart is its role as North America’s premier bird nursery. 'A lot of the birds we think of as common are common only because there is this enormous, intact ecosystem up here,' he says, his binoculars constantly roving. Some 300 species, including whooping cranes, rusty blackbirds and dozens of species of warblers, return each spring to the boreal; for almost a hundred of them, this region holds more than half their entire breeding population."
Link: Full Article from The Nature Conservancy
Link: Boreal Songbird Initiative
White-throated Sparrow © 2007 Mike McDowell