The Seabirds of Québec

This web site provides an overview of the distribution, status and population trends of seabirds and a few other colonial waterbirds breeding in the province of Québec. Note however that the amount of information is biased towards seabird populations in the Estuary and Gulf of the St. Lawrence River. These marine ecosystems are among the most productive along Canada’s coasts. Seabird populations are mainly influenced by food abundance and quality, as well as by the availability of suitable breeding sites. Coastal and insular habitats in the Estuary and in Québec’s portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence host approximately 400,000 pairs of breeding seabirds, represented by 19 species (2004 estimate).

The map below shows a combined diversity and abundance index calculated from the Québec seabird database (May 1997) using Chanter and Owen's equation (1976). Squares measure half a degree of longitude by half a degree of latitude, or 35 km by 55 km. The results are grouped by class. The index reveals that the following four sectors of the Gulf of St. Lawrence are particularly rich in seabird species and abundance:

The îles Sainte-Marie bird sanctuary, on the Lower North Shore,

Corossol Island and Archipel des Sept-Îles, off Sept-Îles,

Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock, off Percé,

Rochers-aux-Oiseaux and Brion Island, in the Magdalen Islands Archipelago.