A Bird Friendly Town is a community where people take steps to protect birds and their habitats. This includes things like reducing threats to birds, restoring natural areas for them to live in, and involving residents in bird conservation efforts. The town plans to organize events focused on bird protection, and local government supports these activities.

Kentville chose the Crow as it's Bird of the Year for 2024!   The American Crow is very social, sometimes forming flocks in the thousands- we see this in Kentville at dusk around the Business Park and Coldbrook.  Inquisitive and sometimes mischievous, crows are good learners and problem-solvers. They’re also aggressive and often chase away larger birds including hawks, owls and herons.  Hooray for Crow!

Being Bird Friendly is important because birds are crucial for healthy ecosystems and the environment overall. Towns and cities can be dangerous for birds, so making them bird-friendly helps support bird populations and biodiversity.

To help protect local birds, you can get involved in events celebrating birds, educate yourself about birds and how to help them, make your windows safer for birds, preserve bird habitats, and explore your interests in bird conservation.

Kentville, for example, is working on building a sense of community around bird conservation, raising awareness about bird-friendly practices, and creating policies to support bird protection as part of its broader efforts for climate action and environmental resilience.

We are close to an Important Bird Area!

Did you know that the Town of Kentville is adjacent to a significant Important Bird Area (IBA)! This designated area, spanning over 220 square kilometers from Canning all the way to Martock, is a place of international significance for the conservation of birds and biodiversity. IBAs are identified using criteria that are internationally agreed upon, standardized, quantitative, and scientifically backed.

Our local IBA, Southern Bright, hosts the staging grounds for an estimated 1 to 2 million shorebirds in late July and early August. At low tide, vast areas of mud and sand flats, and salt marshes are exposed harboring millions of Fundy mud shrimp, a vital food source for the Semipalmated Sandpiper! The Southern Bight and adjacent IBAs are the last and most important stopovers for the sandpipers, where they build up fat stores enabling them to make the long southward migration to South America in three to four days.

To learn more about the incredible local area, visit Southern Bight, Minas Basin IBA

What is a Bird Friendly Town?

A Bird Friendly Town is a community, designated by Nature Canada, that is working to help birds and bird habitat.  Kentville is striving to be a town where:

• Key threats to birds are effectively mitigated;
• Nature is restored so native bird populations can thrive;
• Residents are actively engaged in protecting and monitoring local bird populations;
• Organizations are creating events to protect birds;
• The municipality supports these initiatives

Why is this important?

Birds play an essential role in maintaining healthy and resilient ecosystems in our community and our planet. Cities and towns present many hazards to birds and are threatening bird populations. Let’s help restore the Kentville and North American bird population!

What can we do?  

Here are some ways you can help protect our local birds:

• Engage and Celebrate: Join Kentville in celebrating our local birds with events like World Bird Day, Birdathon, and more!

• Education: There are many useful resources to help you support birds in your area. To start learning, check out: NatureCanada.ca > Discover Nature > Birds

• Bird-proof your windows: 25 million birds in Canada die annually from collisions with glass! In fact, over 90% of collisions are caused by residential homes and low-rise buildings. Reduce collisions with proven glass treatments such as patterned window films or markers.

• Habitat Protection: Protect and preserve bird habitats by: Choosing local native plants for your property, keeping plastic out of our natural environment, and opting for natural ecological management rather than pesticide/herbicide use.

• Get Curious: Learn what interests you about protecting local birds! From insect conversation to bird watching, there’s something for everyone. Check out the list below to get yourself started-- or start making your own!

Here is a list of some of the migratory and resident birds in Kentville:

• American Redstart
• Least Flycatcher
• Common Yellowthroat
• Ovenbird
• White-winged Crossbill
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle
• Common Eider
• Cedar Waxwing
• American Black Duck
• Blue-winged Teal
• Tree Swallow
• Red-breasted Nuthatch ("nut-hatch")

Where to bird in Kentville  

Miner’s Marsh!  1.7 km of maintained trail as two connected loops of 0.8km and 1.2km respectively.  You can access Miners Marsh from the Harvest Moon Trail at the intersection of the trail with Leverett Avenue (2 Klondyke Street), and from the parking area behind the Law Courts building on Bridge Street (81 Bridge Street). 

The Gorge!  64.5-acre natural woodland with a variety of trail systems.  Parking, site maps, a picnic shelter, skills park, and bike repair station greet you as you enter the park off the main trailhead on Gladys Porter Drive. You can also enter the park via the Grant Street entrance, which is a foot path. Both entrances have interpretive signage. 

What is Kentville doing?

• Building Community: We are bringing the Kentville community together to celebrate the wildlife and nature around us. By facilitating gatherings, putting on events, and fostering shared interest among residents, we will see Kentville grow stronger and more connected as a Bird Friendly Town.

• Advocacy and Awareness: Through this initiative, we are sharing bird friendly practices and share resources with residents to support their own participation. We are offering programming for youth and educational campaigns on different issues connected to birds, biodiversity, and conversation.

• Policy and Programs: As we work towards a resilient Kentville through climate action, we will develop different municipal strategies to support this effort. We look to the Province and to exemplary municipalities across the country to guide and inform this approach.

Want to learn more?

Birding Sites in Nova Scotia

Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists

Nova Scotia Bird Society

Where Do You Want To Go Birding in NS?

Birding Pals in Nova Scotia

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Birding.in.Atlantic.Canada/

Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas