Eight Things I Learned from the Birds, Bees and Trees Tour

Lead by Dr. Sandy Smith, Professor at the University of Toronto, Paloma Plant from FLAP Canada, and Brenna Anstett from LEAF, the tour proved to be an enlightening experience that I truly appreciated. As we toured the Annex neighbourhood and walked through the many beautiful promenades, we learned about the plight of our trees as well as the many different types of birds that frequent the city of Toronto. At the end of the tour, we had the opportunity to visit bee hives at the top of the U of T Faculty Club hosted by U of T B.E.E.S. which was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life. 

Here are 8 things I learned on the tour:

1. In The Annex neighbourhood, The Harbord Village Residents’ Association has been active for about 15 years and one of their goals is to protect and increase the tree cover.  They have completed an inventory of their trees using the NeighbourWoods protocol.
2. More space for tree roots to grow and increased biodiversity is required to help keep our urban forest healthy.
3. Development around the city makes it increasingly more difficult to keep our trees healthy as root space becomes less available (tree roots grow shallow and wide rather than deep).
4. Native trees are better for biodiversity than non-native trees – they support greater populations of insects and birds.
5. Birds fly more often during the day and are also more likely to die during the day.
6. Transparent windows and the reflection of trees on windows are major causes of death for birds in the city as they do not see glass.
7. Surprisingly, more birds die has a result of low rise houses than high rise buildings – probably due to the fact that they tend to fly lower during the day.
8. Shortly after dying, dead birds are often scavenged quite quickly by surrounding animals like cats and even squirrels.

What can we do to save our trees and our birds?

1. Protect growing space (avoid paving or building over soft ground surface) and plant a variety of native species. 
2. Break up the reflection on your windows by using decals, ribbons, window films, or shades.

Of course, don’t forget to visit www.yourleaf.org for more events like this!

Winna is a Communications Specialist based in Toronto who is passionate about environmental issues. In her spare time, she volunteers for both LEAF and the Sustainability Network as well other environmental initiatives.

Our Tree Tours are supported by Ontario Power Generation's Biodiversity Program, York Region and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.