The Bullbird

As part of what will likely be a lifelong effort, we are attempting to digitize historical reports of bird sightings from Newfoundland and Labrador. Ultimately, this means adding written reports to eBird whenever possible - providing a fully searchable and public database for these records. Naturally, there is great interest in records of rarities. However, just as interesting are the common species and the profound changes that birders have documented over the decades. The written record of bird distribution is fairly comprehensive from the 1950s onwards. This series of articles will focus on notable changes over the past ~75 years that may not be obvious to the dedicated birder today. Certainly significant changes occurred prior to the 1950s but without a written report to review, those changes will remain a mystery. Following is a breakdown of some of the most notable changes I have noted, including some theories to explain the changes.  Note that this is the second in a series ...

Newfoundland and Labrador’s birding history is fascinating. Due to our position on the edge of North America, and the isolation of the island of Newfoundland off the coast of the Atlantic, NL acts as a first point of contact for wayward vagrant birds from Europe and a last point of land from North American birds trying to migrate over the continent. Oceanographic conditions generated from the interaction of cold and warm currents off our coast, and numerous weather phenomena all add to the propensity of birds to find their way to our shores. Documenting rare birds in Newfoundland historically involved the collection of weak or dead individuals, or by shooting live birds - perhaps with the purpose of sharing them with a museum (or even private collections). Historically, the frequency of rare vagrant birds showing up in NL has been high, and well-kept collections of odd specimens allowed for good documentation and study of the rare birds. Currently, the list of birds that have occurred ...