Biodiversity Portrait of the St. Lawrence - Biological diversity: Birds

Birds
Birds of the St. Lawrence [Total species richness] [Geographical distribution] [Seasonal status] [Relative occurence of species] [Richness of accidental species] Breeding birds [Species richness] [Avifaunal regions] [Types of breeding birds] [Colony-nesting birds]	Priority species [Genetic diversity] [St. Lawrence species] [High conservation priority] [Rare bird species] [Population trends] Relational analyses [Relationships between bird species and terrestrial physiographic units]

Birds of the St. Lawrence:
richness of accidental species

The sites richest in accidental species are located mainly near major urban areas such as Montreal, Côte de Beaupré, Rimouski, Baie-Comeau, Sept-Îles and Percé-Chandler, which have birdwatching clubs that have been active for a number of years. This is to be expected: the greater the number of birdwatchers combing the best birding spots throughout the year and that have done so for many years, the greater the chances of finding unusual species. Since there is a link between accidental species richness and the intensity of birdwatching activity, this is an indicator of the level of effort put into looking for birds in the different squares in the study area.

Many accidental species are cosmopolitan in distribution. Among this group of species, three families are better represented than expected in the avifauna of the St. Lawrence: the Ardeidae (mainly waders found in salt marshes in the southeastern United States), Laridae (both gulls and terns have the habit of straying offshore, where they may be blown off course by hurricanes) and Tyrannidae (a family with several species that inhabit open areas and are well known for their erratic migratory behaviour).

Figure of richness accidental species

* Numbers in parentheses represent the total number of species and the number of accidental species by family

Jean-Luc DesGranges and Benoît Jobin

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