Le Nichoir continues to strive towards its goal of conserving wild birds through rehabilitation and education. The Centre has had a productive year moving forward with its education program and hiring its first full-time educator, Jo-Annie Gagnon. Jo-Annie, a wildlife biologist, is now offering our “Bird Adaptations: Custom-made for Habitat” program to elementary school children year round in their classrooms.
We are very fortunate to have Bird Protection Quebec (BPQ) help support the program. “As we head into our second year of delivering ‘Bird Adaptations’ we are proud to have BPQ , Canada’s oldest conservation charity, sponsoring it for the next three years,” said Wendy Dollinger, Le Nichoir board member.
Bird Adaptations is an interactive program that explores why Quebec birds have different beaks, feet and wings depending on their diet and habitat. The goal of our program is to promote awareness and understanding in children of the wild birds that surround them and the threats these birds face today.
This program is the first of many as we plan to roll out a new program every year. Coming this fall is “Avian CSI” in which children will become bird detectives and try to discover the reasons behind bird injuries from real situations at Le Nichoir. The program will teach children about the dangers wild birds have to face and introduce them to bird biology.
Education plays a critical role in Le Nichoir’s mission to conserve wild birds as part of our natural heritage. As our facility is located next to the beautiful Clarke Sydenham reserve owned by Nature Conservancy Canada, we have a unique opportunity to expand our education role. With funding from Fondation Hydro-Québec pour l’environnement and Fondation de la Faune du Quebec, we will be posting six interpretive panels throughout the trails in the reserve. Over 90 species of birds have been observed in the reserve, which also has a diversity of habitats. The panels will present information information about local birds, their habitats and the conservation of both.
Visit Le Nichoir’s education program Facebook page, for updates and everything related to our Education programs. This page also offers a great learning tool for the classroom called “Fun Fact Mondays”. Look for an interesting new fun fact every Monday.