INTRODUCING ICBP - CANADA excerpts from Nature Alert - CNF

A 1921 visit by T. Gilbert Pearson, the president of the National ’Audubon Society of the 0.5., to the home of Jean Delacour in France sowed the seeds for the first worldwide conservation organization. After Pearson visited other notable conservationists in the Netherlands and Great Britain, the International Committee (now Council) for Bird Preservation was launched in London, England in 1922. Pearson, best known for his crusade against the slaughter of birds for millinery purposes in the.U.s., became its first president, a post he held for 16 years, after which Delacour took over for two decades.

The Canadian Section was formed in 1923, with Hoyes Lloyd in the chair for the first 31 years. ICBP - Canada was composed of representatives of several conservation/naturalist groups across the country since its inception, until it began to languish in the 19609. It was resurrected in 1972 by the fledging Canadian Nature Federation and since then it has served largely as its Bird Conservation Committee.‘ Most of its members are appointed by the CNF,_but both the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Society Of Canadian Ornithologists are also represented at present.

On the world level, ICBP is responsible for the bird volumes in the red data book series of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). ICBP scientists conduct research on the ecology of beleaguered species and on the birds of poorly known, disappearing habitats. Perhaps even more importantly, ICBP helps fund critical bird conservation projects around the world, with special emphasis on countries with few funds for conservation. The organization also publishes a series of technical publications and scientific and popular-style serials. ’ "

The resurrected Canadian section at first restricted its activities primarily to writing letters to appropriate authorities on bird conservation issues. While it still undertakes plenty of correspondence, the section has also prepared profiles on species at risk (Common Loon, Piping Plover, and Loggerhead Shrike to date), written annual updates on bird conservation issues in Canada, and formulated a position statement on gull control. The group also wrote a chapter on Canada for ICBP's technical publication on grassland birds, and is currently preparing a status review of all birds of regular occurrence in Canada. As part of its growing activity in international efforts, ICBP~Canada is currently participating in a bander training project in Cuba.

REMOTE BIRD FEEDER ' ' ' by Wylie Barrett

The snow in our backyard is very deep this winter and, being lazy, I have made a device to put the scraps out for the crows and starlings which feed at some distance from the house and well away from the feeder for the more exotic birds. My system uses a one gallon plastic pail, some string, a finish nail and my bait casting rod. I cut the bottom of the pail around the inside edge leaving about 2 inches for a hinge. Then a small hole is made in the bottom edge of the pail opposite to the hinge. The finish nail is bent to form a ring at the top end. This nail is pushed through the hole to support the bottom of the pail. A string about a foot long is tied between the top edge of the pail and the ringed end of the finish nail. Then the fishing line is tied to the ringed end of the finish nail and we are ready to load the scraps. When loaded, we hang the pail on the clothes line and haul it across the yard to the point for dumping. I then reel in the line to take up the

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