21 For the Birds 1887

Canada is a very big country so all the birds that fly south to warm weather in the winter need to rest along the way. In 1887, the Canadian government could see that the places where people lived were not safe for these birds to stop at. They made a bird sanctuary that year. It was the first one in North America.

Last Mountain Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary(MBS)is 165 kilometres south-east of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. It is 4,736 hectares big. It is a special place for birds. There is fresh water there for the birds to drink. There are fishes and grasses there for the birds to eat. Birds love to rest there during their long migrations. MBS is in the centre of the flying path for thousands of birds that live in North America. Some animals like to live there also. There are fields and forests for them too.

Canada thinks it is important to keep some places natural. They want to make sure that all the animals, trees, and birds do not die completely. Many years ago Canada made national parks. They let trees and flowers grow in some forests. They made laws about fishing. These laws said how many and what type of fishes could be taken out of the water. They made laws about hunting. These laws said how many and what sort of animals could be killed.

At the MBS, it is not legal to kill any of the birds that stop there. It is not legal to take eggs from these bird's nests. Anything that could hurt the birds, their nests, or their eggs is not permitted. Making loud noises to scare the birds away from their nests is not okay.

Because birds have been safe at the sanctuary for so many years, ones that have low numbers like the Whooping Crane are still found in Canada. Whooping cranes are the tallest birds in Canada. They walk in water and pick out fish to eat from the lakes. They build nests on the ground. When people began to move onto the land in the 1800's, these cranes started to lose their homes. They could not build nests so they did not have babies. People started to kill these birds for fun. In 1941, there were only 16 Whooping Cranes left alive in all the world. When people in Canada and the USA tried to stop these birds from dying completely, the sanctuary was an important place. There the cranes could build nests and raise their young chicks. Today, there are more than 500 Whooping Cranes living in North America.

Why does Canada think that birds are so important that the government gives them good land to live on? Wild birds eat mice, rats, and insects that eat the food in farmer's fields. Birds help to keep their numbers low. Birds are also important because they eat the seeds of fruit and vegetables in one place. Then they fly to a different place. When these seeds leave the bird's body, they grow. Birds help to bring new trees, fruits, and vegetables to different parts of Canada. Trees give Canadians fruit, shade, air to breathe, wood to build, etc. Some Canadian animals eat birds for food. So birds are also important in the food chain.

During spring and autumn, it is possible to see hundreds of thousands of ducks, geese, cranes, and smaller birds resting at MBS during their migrations. As many as 50,000 cranes, 450,000 geese and 300,000 ducks can be seen at this time. Most of the ones that stay to build nests like to do that on small islands in the lake. Some birds build nests on the floating wood that the government has put in the water just for these birds.

More than 280 types of birds arrive at MBS in May and September every year. Some continue on to other parts of North America. Over 110 types of birds stop, build nests, and raise young chicks at the sanctuary. Nine of the 36 birds with the lowest numbers in the world live at the MBS all summer, including the Piping Plover.

The Piping Plover was killed in large numbers to make hats from their feathers. Later, just like the Whooping Crane, the Piping Plovers could not find enough land to build their nests. Their numbers got very low. The sanctuary is helping to grow the Piping Plovers numbers again also. The numbers of some birds that are in danger of dying out are starting to grow a little thanks to the bird sanctuary.

WHOOPING CRANES ARE THE TALLEST BIRDS IN CANADA

Some of the birds that rest at the sanctuary will fly through three countries before they finish their twice yearly migration. The Pelican that lives near the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories in Canada flies through Canada, the USA, and on to Mexico for the winter. The sanctuary is a resting stop for many different birds on their way to and from many different countries. Birds travel from as many as 25 other countries to rest at the sanctuary during summer migrations.

For these reasons, Last Mountain Lake was named as a wetland of international importance in 1982.