Birds: Flock Together

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Bird watching is a popular activity in Ontario, so it’s probably not surprising that bird documenting has been too!

Records about birds in our collections teach us about the history of conservation in the province and the fragile ecosystems all species inhabit.

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Two girls remain motionless as wild birds feed from the seeds cupped in their hands, [ca. 1918]
John Boyd fonds
C 7-3, 15173
Archives of Ontario, I0022085

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Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, Our Forest Lands and What We Get from Them!, [ca. 1963]
Govt Doc L&F Misc Box 5 no. 4
Archives of Ontario Library Collection, I0073952

Some of the most common bird species we encounter in our daily lives—geese, gulls, sparrows—are also heavily documented in the Archives of Ontario’s collections.

Birds icon

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Watching Canada geese feeding at the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Morrisburg, Ontario, October 22, 1970
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054230

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Seagulls in flight formation, Georgian Bay, July 12, 1973
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054235

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Canada jay (whiskey jack) at Check Station, Red Lake Road Checking Station, Kenora District, Ontario, October 9, 1971
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054234

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“I’m Ready for My Picture!”, Owl, [189-]
John Boyd fonds
C 7-2-0-1-14
Archives of Ontario, I0054215

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Bird, [ca. 1790s]
Simcoe family fonds
F 47-11-1-0-334
Archives of Ontario, I0007186

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Song sparrow singing, Long Point Provincial Park, Ontario, June 5, 1971
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054233

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Drawing of blue jay in Charles W. Nash, Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture, 1919
PAMPH 1919 #130
Archives of Ontario Library Collection, I0073962

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Ducks and swans enjoy a swim (sign of Spring), Port Credit, Ontario, February 1974
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054232

Various bird species have served as a food source for people in Ontario. This poster urged Canadians to supply Britain with more chicken eggs as part of the war effort.

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Canada’s EGG Opportunity, [ca. 1918]
Archives of Ontario poster collection
C 233-2-2-0-66
Archives of Ontario, I0016361

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Mrs. Aitken's children and Breton chickens,
July 1926
M.O. Hammond fonds
F 1075-13, H 1282
Archives of Ontario, I0001553

Eaton’s, How Punkinhead Came to Toyland, 1953

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Wild turkey release, Trenton area, Ontario, 1984
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0052287

Many Ontario farmers in the 19th century viewed hawks, owls and other predator birds as a nuisance to livestock. By the 20th century, however, more people came to realize the important role these species played in managing rat and other pest populations in rural areas.

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Broad-winged hawk, [ca. 1970s]
Ministry of Natural Resources Photo Library collection
RG 1-448-1
Archives of Ontario, I0054246

The Passenger Pigeon was one of the most abundant bird species in the 19th century. Native to North America, it served as an important food source for Indigenous peoples and European settlers. Its extinction in 1914, the result of large-scale hunting, served as a wakeup call about the finite nature of animal resources. It also led to the Canada-US Migratory Bird Act, one of the first international pieces of conservation legislation.

Front pages of Margaret H. Mitchell,<em> The Passenger Pigeon in Ontario</em>, 1935<br />
598.2 Mit<br />
Archives of Ontario Library Collection, I0073963

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Front pages of Margaret H. Mitchell, The Passenger Pigeon in Ontario, 1935
598.2 Mit
Archives of Ontario Library Collection, I0073963

“The flights of wild pigeons in the spring and autumn is a surprising sight. They fly against the wind and so low that at Niagara the men threw sticks at them from the fort and killed numbers; the air is somewhat darkened by them.”

Excerpt from Elizabeth Simcoe’s diary, November 1, 1793
Elizabeth Simcoe diaries
F 47-8
Archives of Ontario

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