Bird Friendly Community
What to do when you find an injured bird?
In the case where an injured bird is found, please place it in a shoebox or cardboard box with breathing holes and bring it to your local wildlife rescue centre as soon as possible.
Follow these steps to ensure personal safety: If You Find an Injured Bird – FLAP Canada
Important Note:
When birds hit windows, they can sometimes just be stunned and appear to need help, but really they just need some space and time to recover, and they will fly off on their own. They could be moved off a sidewalk or out of harm away into a shrub or shade, and monitored for a little while before being collected for transport to a wildlife rescue centre.
Where can I take the injured bird?
The City of Windsor hosts two locations where injured birds can be dropped off. These include the Ojibway Nature Centre (5200 Matchett Road, Windsor, Ontario, N9C 4E8) and Erie Wildlife Rescue (11168 Tecumseh Road East, Windsor, Ontario, N8R 1A8). Additionally, the Town of Amherstburg hosts the Wings Rehabilitation Centre (5281 Middle Side Road, Amherstburg, Ontario, N9V 2Y9), which will care for injured birds.
For wildlife rescue centres outside of Windsor, please follow Ontario's Wildlife Rescue Guide.
Become a Citizen Scientist
Worldwide, everyday, people of all ages partake in citizen science — helping with projects that tackle real-world questions. Much of this work is done near to home, in neighbourhoods and in backyards. All of us can add something important to our understanding of the natural world. Visit Citizen Science 101 to learn how to contribute to the scientific community.
Becoming a citizen scientist can be as easy as downloading one of these apps:
eBird
iNaturalist
The iNaturalist app is a great tool for identifying plants, insects, and animals. Your observations will be assessed and confirmed by a social network of naturalists. It will allow you to discuss your findings with experts!
Seek
Seek by iNaturalist uses the power of image-recognition technology to identify plants and animals. It encourages you to explore by offering badges for seeing different types of plants, birds, fungi, and more. It’s a great tool to aid kids in outdoor learning!
Merlin
Merlin by the Cornell Lab will help you identify birds you see or hear. Its sound identification (ID) technology listens to the birds around you and offers real-time suggestions for who is singing. Create a digital scrapbook of your birding memories with Save My Bird.
Nature Counts
NatureCounts is one of the largest biodiversity data repositories in the world. It will show you the distribution and abundance of Canadian bird populations. This resource is free to access and is extremely useful for studying environmental changes. Download their free guide to the birds in your region with updates throughout the year.
Audobon Bird Guide
This free Audobon field guide to over 800 species of North American birds will help you identify birds and keep track of your sightings.
Global Bird Rescue
During the second week in October, join the global effort to search and rescue birds injured from collisions with windows.
Birds see reflected foliage and sky on the window’s surface as an inviting place to fly toward. Impact with glass is usually fatal.
The Global Bird Collision Mapper allows a registered user to report the species, location, time, and status of the bird they recover, anywhere in the world. This community science tool shows every collision on its interactive geographic information system (GIS) map, providing invaluable data.
Global Big Day
Join a team and compete to record birds during the annual Global Big Day. This event occurs every year on the second Saturday in May. October Big Day is similar to Global Big Day in the spring but occurring on the second Saturday in October. This 24-hour fall birding opportunity falls on the peak of fall migration.
Shown below is a photograph of a Barn swallow taken by Carolyn Brown through her binoculars.
Interested in joining the nature community in person? Listed below are some fantastic local clubs and organizations to get you outdoors:
Essex County Field Naturalists
This non-profit volunteer organization focuses on promoting the conservation and restoration of our local natural heritage. With monthly meetings and guest speakers, this engaging community is a great place to start for anyone who wants to become better acquainted with their natural environment.
The Field Naturalists’ website provides fun activities and educational opportunities.
Their Junior Egrets program provides monthly opportunities for kids of all ages to connect with nature and each other.
Pelee Island Bird Observatory
The Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO) is devoted to the study of migratory birds on Pelee Island. Dedicated to the preservation of natural habitats on the island, this globally recognized non-governmental organization (NGO) was created in 2004 after a pilot study documented 192 species of migrating bird.
The Pelee Island Bird Observatory was instrumental in helping the City of Windsor acquire its Bird Friendly City status. Work done by researchers on the island highlighted how important this region is to the global bird population. The community has worked honestly and vigorously to improve the lives of wild birds. To learn more about the work that was done to gain Bird Friendly City status, visit PIBO’s website (linked above).
Ontario Field Ornithologists
The Ontario Field Ornithologists mission is to foster and increase the appreciation, knowledge, and conservation of Ontario’s birds within an equitable and inclusive organization. With events around the province and educational webinars, this is a great organization to help you get involved with the larger birding community.
Visit the Ojibway Nature Centre
Located at 5200 Matchett Road, the Ojibway Nature Centre is an excellent place to start exploring the Ojibway Park Complex. Visit ActiveWindsor to learn about upcoming hikes and kids' programs.
Shown below is a collage of photographs of local birds taken by Jennifer Nantais.
Counter-clockwise from top-left: white-breasted nuthatch, tree swallows, wood duck family, ruby-crowned kinglet
For more information on Environmental Initiatives
Phone: For general information, call 311. For detailed inquiries, call 519-255-6100 ext. 6108
Email: emp@citywindsor.ca