Background information

Migration Strategy / Occurrence

Resident
No significant migration; breeds and winters in the same range within Canada.
Short-distance migrant
Breeds in Canada and migrates to winter largely in temperate regions, e.g., southern Canada, the United States and northern Mexico or (in the case of seabirds) the boreal and temperate waters of North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.
Long-distance migrant
Breeds in Canada and migrates to winter largely or completely to the south of the northern hemisphere temperate zone. For landbirds, this means in the neotropics, i.e. southern Mexico, West Indies, Central and South America.
Paleotropical migrant
Breeding range includes Canada but winters largely or completely in the paleotropics, i.e. Asia, Africa.
Seasonal visitor
Does not breed in Canada but is a regular visitor during one or more seasons. Migration strategy varies.

Landbirds were assigned to a Migration Strategy/Occurrence category largely according to Peterjohn and Sauer (1993); these are identical to those used in the Environment and Climate Change Canada Breeding Bird Survey guild analysis. For a few landbirds not assigned a category by Peterjohn and Sauer (1993), designations were added based on WildSpace (Wildspace 2008). Categories for shorebirds, seabirds and waterbirds (excluding waterfowl) were based on WildSpace with revisions made by Environment and Climate Change Canada staff. In a few cases it was not possible to assign a strategy; these species have not been categorized.

Reference

  • Peterjohn, B.G. and J.R. Sauer. 1993. North American Breeding Bird Survey annual summary, 1990-1991. Bird Pop. 1:52-67
  • Wildspace. 2008. Environment and Climate Change Canada , Canadian Wildlife Service. Ottawa, Ontario.