Project CHIRP! (Creating Habitat In Residential areas and Parkland) is a not-for-profit, urban-focused songbird & pollinator conservation initiative aimed at raising awareness of migratory songbirds and pollinators and their need for protection.  Resident songbirds also stand to benefit.  It highlights the important role we each can play in their conservation. Please read the Project CHIRP mission statement.

 

Songbird Migration is upon us!  :)   
(mid-August to earlyOctober)

Of the 3 billion songbirds that spent the summer nesting and raising young in Canada's boreal forest, many will be embarking on their 6,000km bi-annual odyssey as of mid-August. Using stars and magnetic fields to guide them during their night-time flight, they will be heading to Latin America in search of rich, dense and species-diverse forested areas to meet their food and shelter needs over the following 7 months. They must be able to put on the body fat they will need to endure the return flight in the spring to the boreal. Increasingly, this is an extremely difficult task as original forest is being rapidly cleared to make way for a sun coffee plantations.  These plantations represent a mono-culture of coffee trees which rely on the heavy input of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers.  Such coffee farming methods are completely incompatible with the survival of songbirds or any biodiversity.  Consequently, you will see on this page a link to
Birds and Beans coffee.  This coffee comes from farms which keep the original forest and grow coffee beneath the existing canopy. The quality is top-notch!   It is a win-win for all biodiversity!
Please;

1)      Purchase coffee which is certified Bird-Friendly® by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

2) * ATTEND AN OCTOBER SONGBIRD GARDEN TOUR! *
and learn what to plant at home to provide food, shelter and water for our migrants!  "Yes!  They spend daylight hours foraging in backyards throughout the GTA, including yours, but they need our help!"

3) Attend one of the upcoming TALKS

4) Spring and Fall are both excellent times for planting, TAKE THE SONGBIRD GARDEN CHALLENGE!  ( Assistance is available )  

THANK YOU

 PROJECT CHIRP! VOLUNTEERS!