Warming temperatures have resulted in some birds, once rare in Newfoundland and Labrador, to expand their ranges to this province, but one once-common species has seen a very steep decline in recent years.
The bobolink was once a common visitor to Newfoundland, but farming practices and loss of habitat have affected their numbers, making them a rare sighting for birders across most of North America in recent years.
Jared Clarke of Bird the Rock calls that “sad.”
He says the birds require long grass in which to nest and fledge their chicks, but that also makes them vulnerable to farming practices, especially the cutting of hay.