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These fish-eating colonial waterbirds breed and nest in colonies on islands in and around Fathom Five National Marine Park. Five species of colonial waterbird are monitored. These birds and their eggs are effective measures of environmental contamination and aquatic ecosystem health.

Gwaii Haanas has partnered with ECCC to monitor a set of permanent plots mapping colony structure and burrow occupancy rate by excavating samples of burrows of Ancient Murrelet and Cassin’s Auklet. The data are used to determine if the breeding population areas are changing at specific key nesting colonies and if the change signifies an increasing or decreasing population trend. An estimated 1.5 million seabirds breed colonially on the 200+ islands, islets and rocks of Haida Gwaii, including globally and nationally significant proportions of 5 seabird species. A significant threat to breeding seabirds is predation by non-native mammals, notably raccoons and rats.

Bird sanctuaries areas of importance for the protection of migratory birds, their nests, and eggs. Nunavut has an abundance of sites favourable to the migratory habits of several bird species.

This program is used to track Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) population trend, local abundance, and annual survivorship. Bird banding, re-sighting visits and nesting population counts occur annually in the spring, with banding occurring in May to July since 2007, and nesting population counts occurring in late May or early June since 2008. The measurement for this species represents a complete annual census of birds nesting at key nesting locations across the park and is standardized across the three National Parks in the Coastal British Columbia bioregion with links to monitoring programs taking place in Alaska and Washington State. Completely dependent on marine shorelines for its food and nesting, these monogamous and long-lived birds establish well-defined breeding pairs and occupy composite feeding and nesting territories year after year, often along low-sloping gravel or rocky shorelines where intertidal prey are abundant.

The distribution of nesting areas for bird colonies in coastal British Columbia showing relative abundance (RA) by season and overall relative importance (RI). RI is based on project region and not on the province as a whole. Number counts for various species in the colony location are provided. CRIMS is a legacy dataset of BC coastal resource data that was acquired in a systematic and synoptic manner from 1979 and was intermittently updated throughout the years.

Red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator) are colonial birds found on Tern Islands, a set of three small barrier islands separated by water at high tide located within Kouchibouguac National Park. These piscivorous sea ducks are indicators for the state of the breeding islands and associated marine or estuarine ecosystems, since nest distribution and productivity is closely related to habitat conditions such as the presence of marram grass (Ammophila breviligulata) in addition to sometimes sea lyme grass (Leymus mollis) or common yarrow (Achillea millefolium); while the occurrence of the species is also linked to the scope and abundance of fish resources. The purpose of the red-breasted merganser monitoring program is to determine the annual number of nesting attempts and to measure nest success, as these are important parameters that contribute to breeding population dynamics. The methods for this measure involve an annual census in mid-August where nests (i.e., a bowl with at least one egg) are located by systematically searching the vegetated regions on Tern Islands immediately following the completion of the breeding season.

Herring gull (Larus arentatus, HERG), great blue heron (Ardea Herodias GBHE), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus, DCCO) and ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis, RBGU) have been monitored in Pukaskwa National Park since 1977 as part of the colonial waterbird monitoring program. A complete count of active nests on islands found along the ~120km of coast of Pukaskwa is conducted based on the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) protocol. The nest count is carried out during the peak of breeding over a period of 2-3 weeks. From 1977 – 1981, surveys were conducted annually and used an island numbering system (Old Colony Number in datasheet).

Counts of nesting pelicans and cormorants at the Lavallee Lake colony are conducted each spring via aerial photography, and mortality is counted each fall by walking transects through the colony. Pelicans and cormorants feed on small and large freshwater fish up to 100 km from the colony and are an indicator of the health of the aquatic/terrestrial interface in the ecosystem.

Black swift (Cypseloides niger) have been listed as an Endangered Species by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). In Jasper National Park, black swifts nest in canyon waterfalls and may be affected by decreases in water flow on account of decreased snow pack and glacial melt, and specific recreational activities that may disturb nesting birds. Data are collected by trained observers during the breeding season to identify breeding sites to inform management action.

The abundance of bank swallow (Riparia riparia) nest holes within cliff and bank habitats along PEI National Park coastline is monitored. Previously, large historical colonies were surveyed annually, and every five years a complete census of the entire park shoreline was completed. As of 2010, a complete census is done annually along the coastline of PEI National Park following the breeding season. Nest holes are counted along the coast throughout PEI National Park by multiple observers.