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 
     
    
   
   
    
     - 11 _