*Please click here to see an important message from Wildife Acoustics regarding
proper battery use in the Song Meter Mini Recorders*

click here for bird surveying resources

This project has been initiated by Plenty Canada, an Indigenous-led non-profit, in collaboration with Ontario Nature. The Two-Eyed Seeing to Share Knowledge of Ontario's Breeding Birds project has a "Community First" approach that supports Indigenous communities to lead initiatives that align with their bird-related priorities, including increased protection and recovery of birds at risk, youth on the land programming, and many other possibilities. 

The main objectives of this project are to:

• Enable Indigenous communities and individuals to participate in the third Ontario    Breeding Bird Atlas survey (Atlas-3) ​

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• Facilitate communication between Indigenous communities and Atlas-3 organizers and volunteers

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• Provide resources and access to training for bird surveying

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• Support Two-Eyed Seeing knowledge exchanges

 

• Organize learning circles where communities and Atlas-3 participants come together to share knowledge

 

• Ensure the project operates within the framework of Ethical Space using the Two-Eyed Seeing approach

What’s Atlas-3?

It is citizen science at its finest, with thousands of volunteers conducting a province-wide breeding bird survey over a five-year period (2021-2025). Atlas-3 participants will map Ontario’s approximately 300 species of breeding birds and their habitats. The Atlas is repeated every 20 years to see how bird distributions and populations change over time. You can learn more at birdsontario.org.

How can Indigenous communities get involved?​

Plenty Canada is committed to conducting this project within the framework of Ethical Space and Two-Eyed Seeing. Communities will determine their interest and level of involvement, including whether they will share data and/or traditional knowledge outside their community. There are many ways that a community can participate in the Two-Eyed Seeing to Share Knowledge of Ontario's Breeding Birds project: 

• "Community First" approach where communities decide their level of involvement and whether they will share data and/or traditional knowledge outside their community

• Conduct bird surveys on reserve and traditional lands, either jointly with Atlas-3 survey participants or only with community members​

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• Include bird surveying and recording of Indigenous ecological knowledge in youth programming

• ​Place acoustic recorders to record bird songs and recover them after several weeks/months

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• ​​Host and/or participate in a “learning circle” with knowledge-sharing between traditional Knowledge Keepers, Elders, community members and Atlas-3 survey participants

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• Suggest how the atlas surveying protocols and approaches can be adapted to ensure bird research is meaningfully informed by Indigenous Ways of Knowing

Indigenous Community Liaisons facilitate where needed, providing connections to the Atlas-3 participants, access to training and equipment, and support for learning circles, travel, and other expenses. In keeping with Two-Eyed Seeing, all learning circles will begin and end in ceremony. 
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All photos by Mark Peck, with the exception of the eastern meadowlark next to "For the love of birds!". Some have been cropped to fit.

To learn more about the project or get involved, interested individuals or communities can contact the Indigenous Community Liaisons:

Ontario South - Emily Morris, [email protected] (interim)

Ontario North - Sharon Kimberley, [email protected]

​This project was undertaken with the financial support of:
Ce projet a été réalisé avec l'appui financier de: