Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery- Volunteers and sightings wanted! Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC) is looking for volunteer surveyors for the 2024 Adopt-A-Site program. We are looking for help in a number of historic shrike 'hot-spots' across Ontario (Carden, Napanee, Grey-Bruce, Manitoulin, Pembroke/Renfrew and Smiths Falls). Volunteers are asked to survey their designated sites three times over the spring and summer (April 15th to June 30th) for evidence of loggerhead shrikes, and a suite of other birds found in the same habitat. To be involved in surveys, volunteers require: -a reliable mode of transportation to remote locations in one of the core areas listed above -available time on three days of your choice between April 15th-June 30th (spaced apart evenly) -the ability to spot birds from a distance using binoculars and/or a scope The information that Adopt-A-Site volunteers collect directly contributes our team's work in conserving the species! The Loggerhead Shrike has suffered serious declines throughout its historic breeding range over the last 50 years. The eastern subspecies, found in Ontario, has been designated as endangered in Canada since 1991. WPC has been leading the recovery effort for this bird since 2003, and every year our field staff monitor the numbers and breeding success of wild birds, and release captive-bred juveniles to bolster the wild population. Please contact birds@wildlifepreservation.ca by March 22 to learn more or if you are interested in volunteering. If you do not have time for dedicated site surveys, you can still get involved by reporting any loggerhead shrike sightings in Eastern Canada! Have you seen a Loggerhead Shrike? They are on the move! With spring just around the corner, we are starting to see early migrants (like killdeer, red-winged blackbirds and song sparrows) returning to Ontario! Did you know that loggerhead shrikes are among the earliest to return and stake out territory on their grassland breeding grounds? There have been reports of sightings this month as far north as Columbus, Ohio and New York City! We need your help! If you spot a shrike anywhere in Eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, the maritime provinces), let us know! Email birds@wildlifepreservation.ca with the date, location and any photos or details of your observations, for our field biologists to follow-up and include in annual population counts. You can learn more about the program and how you can get involved at https://wildlifepreservation.ca/species/loggerheadshrike/ [1]. A summary of last year's recovery activities can be found here: https://wildlifepreservation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2023-Ontario-LOSH-Report.pdf Thanks in advance, from the whole Shrike Recovery Team Helmi Hess Recovery Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program Wildlife Preservation Canada -- Helmi Hess (she/her) _Recovery Biologist, Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Recovery Program_ Wildlife Preservation Canada [2] _Wildlife Preservation Canada's head office is on the homelands of the _ _Anishinaabe, __Haudenosaunee, and Attawandaron peoples, and on the _ _treaty lands of the __Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation._ Links: ------ [1] https://wildlifepreservation.ca/species/loggerheadshrike/ [2] https://wildlifepreservation.ca/