Introduction

Toronto Ornithological Club Summer Bird Count (with partner Bird Studies Canada)

Although summer is often considered a quiet “doldrums” period for birding, ecologically speaking, it is one of the most interesting times of year. Nearly 200 species use Toronto as their nesting grounds, and understanding their summer distributions and their abundance over time can inform how we manage our city habitats. Toronto's breeding birds truly share our city with us, and the Summer Bird Count allows us to assess the relative health of their populations. The Toronto Ornithological Club conducts its Summer Bird Count between May 24 and June 30. The Count is a series of five minute point-counts that fall within Toronto's Christmas Bird Count circle. The circle is broken up into "sectors" and sector leaders, along with their teams, are responsible for all point counts that occur in their specific area. All point count locations are the same as those sampled during the 2nd Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (2001-2005), allowing for a direct comparison with that data. Each point count location is monitored only once during the observation period and each sector leader has the option of adding additional new point count locations to take advantage of their knowledge of the sector habitat.

Any TOC member wishing to join the Summer Bird Count should contact the Summer Bird Count administrator.

Sectors, locations and leaders are listed here.