At the bird festival yesterday, we picked up a copy of Birds of Toronto – A guide to their remarkable world. This is a City of Toronto publication and the first in a Biodiversity Series. This is an excellent publication and if you live in the area and have an interest in bird-life, I recommend getting a copy. The cover features a picture of a flock of Whimbrel’s taken in Sam Smith Park, just down the street from Anchovy World Headquarters (for those not in the know, this blog is written in an anchovy cave called Anchovy World Headquarters, hidden deep beneath an ordinary looking residence on 27th Street in the Longbranch area of Toronto).

There is some material in the book about threats to birds , including an hierarchy of threats table. According to this the biggest threat to birds is collision – collision with buildings, vehicles, communication towers, power lines, wind turbine – they crash into stuff a lot. The second biggest threat is recreational hunting, followed by house cats, indirect pesticide poisoning, nuisance bird control, electrocution and scientific research. The book also publishes a list of the top 25 victims of building collisions in Toronto. I sure hope we don’t have a department of bird collisions. I won’t go through the whole list here, because I’m not sure what it tells us. The biggest victim, just because you’re dying to know, is the white-throated sparrow.

For the new birder or for those with a casual interest, Birds of Toronto offers a dozen suggestions for good places to go to spot migrant and native birds, along with a map. It also features an excellent chronology of the Toronto birding year as well as a handy checklist of the birds of the Greater Toronto Area. There are even sections on bird-friendly gardens and a program called “Lights out Toronto” (about the dangers of buildings and lighting to migratory birds).

Overall, this is an excellent publication for Torontonians and for visitors to the city as well.