Bird Friendly Toronto

04/30/2026

Last week we attended Council meeting to hear 2026.MM40.14, a motion made by and seconded by “Renewing Official Recognition of Toronto as a Certified Bird Friendly City”. The motion passed and the Bird Friendly Toronto team is happy to say this meets our mandatory criteria of municipal support as we embark on recertification of the City of Toronto!
We look forward to this work, as it helps make our beautiful city a more sustainable, climate resilient and biodiverse place to live!

Thank you to Deputy Mayor Malik for your support!

03/19/2026

The 6th simple action to help birds is to protect our planet by reducing plastic use.

Single use plastic harms birds and all wildlife (and humans). Especially for birds that live on the ocean and shores, plastic pollution poses a major threat due to ingestion and entanglement.

Plastic can take hundreds of years to break down.

The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean up data indicates that 11 million tons of plastic ends up in our ocean annually, with Canadians producing 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year according to BirdsCanada.

A study by Brookson et al., 2019, looked at the stomach contents of double-crested cormorant colonies in both Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and found microplastics, fibers from clothing, paint, synthetic leather and glass in 26 of the 30 birds studied. Cormorants only eat fish which means the fish are eating plastic. Cormorants have even been reported to use garbage to build their nests (Damian & Fraser, 2020).

Almost 800 other species have been negatively impacted by plastic pollution (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Technical Series 83). Unfortunately marine animals, including seabirds, will eat large pieces of plastic until they feel full and suffer starvation and internal injuries.

Help us protect our birds and our planet from plastic pollution.

Here are actions you can take to reduce plastic use:

-Reduce usage of single use plastic (such as plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, wipes)
-Proper waste management
-Participate in Community Cleanups

02/23/2026

The 5th Simple Action to help birds is an easy switch to start drinking Bird Friendly Coffee. What is Bird Friendly Coffee and why does it matter?

In Central and South America, where most of our migratory birds spend their winters, forests are being destroyed for agriculture with devastating impacts on wildlife.  

Bird Friendly Coffee is certified organic and shade grown in a fully functioning forest ecosystem with plant species diversity that provides habitat for birds, especially our migratory birds and other wildlife. 

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) certifies that these forests provide good habitat for wildlife. Farms must meet specific criteria, such as at least 40% canopy cover, at least 12-metre tree canopy height, at least 10 different species of native trees and shrubs, and a variety of other biodiversity indicators. The Smithsonian Bird Friendly Certification is the gold standard in sustainable coffee (and cocoa) production. 

In addition, shade grown bird friendly coffee tastes better because the beans ripen slower than coffee grown in full sun, resulting in a richer more complex flavour.

Here are some birds that benefit from Bird Friendly Coffee Plantations:

American Redstart

Hammond’s Flycatcher 

Nashville Warbler

 Orange-crowned Warbler

 Tennessee Warbler

 Swainson’s Thrush; 

and some birds at risk like the Canada Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, and Olive-sided Flycatcher

Give it a try!

02/05/2026

Action 4 of the '7 Simple Actions to Help Birds' series is to avoid pesticides.

Pesticides were banned in Ontario for cosmetic use in 2009. This ban falls short as pesticides can still be used in agriculture and in forestry. A well known group of pesticides are the neonicotinoids or neonics, they are neurotoxic insecticides.

A study by Eng et al., 2019, reports that high exposure to this pesticide reduced food intake and delayed migration, a critical season for songbirds as they require fat reserves to fuel long, non-stop flights. Bird species that regularly use agricultural habitats for migration and breeding are most at risk; this has been evident in the decline in farm-land dependent bird species. Birds are affected two-fold, one by the direct effects of consuming treated seeds and secondly, the lack of insects because of the overuse of pesticides in agriculture.

Another common pesticide is rodenticide. Health Canada restricted their use due to their lethal toxicity. Rodenticides spread through the food chain killing wildlife and don’t stop rodent infestations!

Here is how you can help.

First, investigate where your food comes from and become aware of deterrent practices and avoid purchasing pesticides online.

Second, please do not use rodenticide, use more effective strategies like exclusion and proper food and waste containment. Try other solutions like live catch and release traps.

Lastly, advocate for government policies that phase out rodenticides.

01/27/2026

The 3rd simple action to help birds involves building wilderness right where we live by reducing lawn and planting native plants. 

Most lawn or grass turf is not native to Southern Ontario and requires high maintenance such as watering and fertilizer. Turf grass provides very little value to our native wildlife and insects. 

All birds, even seed eaters, rely on insects. Insects require the native plant species they share evolutionary history with as they have adapted their digestive systems to overcome the plant's defenses.

Birds also use plants for their seeds and berries. Check out the Credit Valley Conservation Authority resource for useful plants for birds and PollinateTO's Native Plants, Trees, and Shrubs tool for useful plants for pollinators. yourleaf.org offers rebates on native trees and shrubs for homeowners.

Gardening with native plants opens a whole new level of fun, you become a custodian for birds, butterflies, bees, dragonflies, chipmunks, and squirrels. Not to mention, they add interest and beauty to your yard and neighbourhood.

Things to consider when purchasing plants:

- ask if they have been sprayed with neo-nicotinoids
-ask if they have been sprayed with pesticides 
-make sure they were propagated in Ontario

01/19/2026

This might ruffle a few feathers…however, it needs to be talked about.

We love our cats, and because we love our cats we recommend keeping them inside as our 2nd simple action to save birds.

Cats are a domestic species that has been introduced into our ecosystem. This non-native species prey on our native wildlife such as birds. 

Although habitat loss and climate change are the top risk factors that affect Biodiversity, cat predation does have a substantial effect on our wildlife population. With an estimated 5.4 – 9.6 million free-roaming cats, and 1.5 – 4.1 million of these being feral, birds need all the help they can get (Blancher.P, 2013). 

By keeping your cats indoors, or if need be, supervising outdoor time, you are helping keep our wildlife safe and your cat safe from hazards such as vehicle collisions, drowning, contracting disease, and avoiding adding to the already overpopulated feral cat population.

You can keep your cat happy by providing enough stimulation with toys, perches, or cat furniture.

It is not the fault of the cat of course, it has natural instincts, however, as the original source of the introduction of cats to our ecosystem, it is our responsibility as humans to keep cats safe and out of trouble.

01/13/2026

We start our ‘7 Simple Actions to Help Birds’ series by talking about how we can make windows safer for birds.

Birds are at risk for collisions with windows both day and night. Birds do not see or understand glass the way we do. They only see the reflection of trees and open space and think they are flying towards it or they see what’s on the other side of fly-through glass.

By treating our windows to make the barrier visible to birds we can help protect them, whether it be reflective, fly-through, or combination glass.

We can treat the outside surface of our windows by using Feather Friendly marker tape or DIY solutions such as:
-Rope or string
-Window screen
-Oil-based Paint Marker
- A window screen

Something else to consider is lights. Lights at night attract birds into the city and disorients them, causing collisions. We can also help protect birds by turning off unnecessary lights at night during migration season, March to June and late July- October.

Some best practices for exterior lighting are:
-Use motion-sensor lights with timers
-the light should be shielded and point downwards towards the ground
-look for fixtures that are Dark Sky certified to prevent light trespass and glare.

You can start this simple action immediately. Treat the exterior surface or your windows or advocate for your building to treat theirs and implement effective lighting and turn off your lights at night!

01/08/2026

Do you have New Year's resolutions? 📝✨

We invite you to include one of these 7 simple actions to help birds in 2026.

We are starting a series next week and will dive deeper into each of these actions. Stay tuned for our posts this month.

We'd love to hear from you, tell us in the comments how you're helping birds this year.

12/24/2025

Did you know there is a company that proposes to use Earth-orbiting mirrors to to reflect sunlight onto our planet at night? This would be disastrous for wildlife, nocturnal pollinators, human health, and erase the stars for good.

DarkSky International has created a letter to the company, Reflect Orbital, and its investors, opposing this plan.

Please take a moment to add your name to their letter to let them know that you also oppose this plan and value protecting the night.

You can view the letter and add your name here: https://darksky.org/news/organizational-statement-reflect-orbital/

10/29/2025