Bobolink, barn swallow programs on P.E.I. exceed expectations

A summer project to protect two farmland birds on P.E.I. has exceeded expectations.

Jackie Waddell, executive director of Island Nature Trust, says 50 barn swallow nesting ledges were installed and 45 landowners agreed to keep their barns open during the birds's nesting season.

​About 190 hectares of grassland are now being managed for bobolinks.

"I'd like to see this project be at least as big as the piping plover project. I think these are two important species and I think it's very important to bring people's attention to the birds that are in decline, why they're in decline and what they can do to help them," she says.

According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, barn swallows are listed as threatened. Like many bird species that feed on flying insects, their numbers have seen a decline, though the reasons for the drop are not well understood states COSEWIC's website.

As well, after decades of steady declines in numbers, bobolinks are listed as threatened by COSEWIC. Part of the reason for the decline is due to habitat loss and fragmentation, exposure to pesticides and loss of safe places for the birds to roost over winter, the committee states on its website.

Barn swallows are easily recognized by their blue backs, reddish faces, deeply forked tails and aerial acrobatic skills.

The bobolink is a medium-sized black songbird with a white back and yellow collar and a call that is reminiscent of R2-D2 from Star Wars.

Waddell says the project aims to increase their populations on P.E.I. by providing proper nesting habitats.