Why Care About Canada’s Boreal Forests?
During spring migration up to 3 billion birds fly through the U.S. to their breeding grounds in the Canadian Boreal Forest. Up to 5 billion birds (adults and offspring) fly south from the Boreal each fall. 60% of these migrants spend the winter in the U.S. — making it the largest wintering grounds for boreal birds such as Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Rusty Blackbirds and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The responsibility of the Boreal in sustaining some bird populations is startling: 80% of the waterfowl species of North America, 63% of the finch species, and 53% of warbler species breed in the Boreal. For nearly 100 species, 50% or more of their entire breeding populations occur in the Boreal. Over 80% of the North American populations of 35 species occur in the Boreal.
