Response Statement - Horned Grebe, Western population

November 25, 2009

Common Name: Horned Grebe, Western population
Scientific Name: Podiceps auritus

Status assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC): Special Concern

How the Minister of the Environment intends to respond to the assessment: The Minister of Environment will undertake consultations with the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, the Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, the Wildlife Management Advisory Council - Northwest Territories, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, the Nisga'a Wildlife Committee, the Wildlife Management Advisory Council - North Slope and the Wek'eezhii Renewable Resources Board, Aboriginal peoples, stakeholders, and the public on whether or not the Horned Grebe, Western population, should be added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk (Schedule 1) under the Species at Risk Act as Special Concern. The Minister of the Environment will forward the COSEWIC assessment of the Horned Grebe, Western population, to the Governor in Council upon completion of consultations.

Once a species has been assessed by COSEWIC, further steps must be undertaken before it is added to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. For more information on this process, please view The Species Listing Process Under SARA.

Reason(s) for status designation provided by COSEWIC: Approximately 92% of the North American breeding range of this species is in Canada and is occupied by this population. It has experienced both long-term and short-term declines and there is no evidence to suggest that this trend will be reversed in the near future. Threats include degradation of wetland breeding habitat, droughts, increasing populations of nest predators (mostly in the Prairies), and oil spills on their wintering grounds in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

Occurrence: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut

Competent Minister(s):
Minister of Environment
Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency

Province(s) and territory (territories) to be consulted:
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut

Applicable federal legislation: This species is protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994. When the species is found within national parks of Canada or other lands administered by the Parks Canada Agency, it is protected or managed under the Canada National Parks Act or through measures or management tools available to the Parks Canada Agency under other legislation. Where it occurs in a National Wildlife Area this species is subject to the Wildlife Area Regulations under the Canada Wildlife Act, which prohibits activities that could be harmful to species and to their habitat, unless a permit is issued indicating the permitted activity.