Dear Ontbirds listserv, I posted to the list back in January about our ongoing study on the effects of urbanization on birds in Ontario, and had a great response - we now have dozens of surveys completed for many of Ontario's cities (thank you!). We still need more assistance, especially for Sudbury, Guelph, and Brampton, and we would welcome responses for all of the 15 cities in our study. If you're an expert birder and are missing getting out to bird while we're all stuck at home, please consider taking 20-30 minutes to complete one of our surveys (details below). We are seeking help from birders, naturalists, and ornithologists to identify which species breed in urban habitats in metro areas across Ontario. Our goal is to compile a comprehensive list of all of the bird species that do, and do not, breed in Ontario’s cities. Are you familiar with the breeding birds of any of Ontario’s metro areas, and, if so, would you be willing to complete our survey? The surveys are comprehensive, covering 150-180 bird species per city, and so will likely take 20-30 minutes to complete carefully. You can find links to the surveys here: https://www.bonierlab.com/urban-birds-of-ontario <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bonierlab.com%2Furban-birds-of-ontario&data=02%7C01%7Cpm45%40queensu.ca%7Cf9d0facc549a4b71db9c08d79dd9fa59%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C637151431847327287&sdata=Fs611fduBzT5buTZB7nfo32vr9bhHNGqsLWzoqrwoVA%3D&reserved=0> Please note that we are aware of other resources (e.g., Breeding Bird Survey, Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird data) that provide valuable information on breeding bird populations. The structure and method of collection of those data, however, aren't suitable for the goals of our study, in part, because these other data sources aren’t urban-focused and cannot give a nuanced description of breeding occurrence specifically in urban habitats. If you would like to learn more about our study methods, please visit this page: https://www.bonierlab.com/urban-birds-of-ontario-faqs <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bonierlab.com%2Furban-birds-of-ontario-faqs&data=02%7C01%7Cpm45%40queensu.ca%7Cf9d0facc549a4b71db9c08d79dd9fa59%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C637151431847337279&sdata=uBNkEsHy8b3O8xRaHLnSirOOl0TUtToAcRhcXXWD0%2FU%3D&reserved=0> If you are interested in an example of a global study where we successfully used similar methods, please visit this page: https://www.pnas.org/content/115/49/E11495 <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pnas.org%2Fcontent%2F115%2F49%2FE11495&data=02%7C01%7Cpm45%40queensu.ca%7Cf9d0facc549a4b71db9c08d79dd9fa59%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C637151431847337279&sdata=GkW6CFym9pI7Z%2FUWzmr5%2FSK93wm3vqE5TJH42vEE7lE%3D&reserved=0> Thank you! Fran Bonier & Paul Martin www.bonierlab.com <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bonierlab.com&data=02%7C01%7Cpm45%40queensu.ca%7Cf9d0facc549a4b71db9c08d79dd9fa59%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C637151431847337279&sdata=rVYnwCRYRQt%2FUFwKVJNLkZKR%2FW6qLOQp57fVRuTGtbM%3D&reserved=0> www.paulmartinlab.com <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paulmartinlab.com&data=02%7C01%7Cpm45%40queensu.ca%7Cf9d0facc549a4b71db9c08d79dd9fa59%7Cd61ecb3b38b142d582c4efb2838b925c%7C1%7C0%7C637151431847347275&sdata=qX46CKhrl5oF7ztQNMCXWWqUg9Pjmp5GG%2BMQ%2FI1Mlr0%3D&reserved=0> -- **************************************************** Dr. Fran Bonier Associate Professor Queen's University Biology Department Biosciences Complex 3523 Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada phone: 613-533-6000 x77024 email: bonierf@queensu.ca https://www.bonierlab.com/ <http://post.queensu.ca/%7Ebonierf/index.html> ****************************************************