Montreal bridge to be lit blue and green in bid to protect migrating birds
Montreal bridge to be lit blue and green in bid to protect migrating birds
Montreal's Champlain Bridge will be lit up using only blue and green lights to help birds during migration this spring.
Light pollution is a growing problem for birds that are attracted to it and become disoriented.
"The songbirds migrate at night, people don't know that," says bird behaviourist Joel Coutu.
"Larger birds, geese, eagles and hawks migrate during the day, but for songbirds, it's an advantage to migrate at night because you have no hawks around or predators."
White and red lights are the main issue, as those colours attract birds and prevent them from continuing on their journey.
"There was a lot of consultation between various environmental protection agencies, both at the provincial and federal level," says Alexandre Harvey, a member of the group that administers the New Champlain Bridge.
"Bird migration was a big one that was considered, and the phenomenon of light pollution is something that's been more widely recognized in the past years," he says.
Montreal is on a major migratory pathway, and lights attract birds away from their migration routes.
The bridge's size and proximity to several migratory bird sanctuaries made it particularly important to address light pollution, says Harvey.
Coutu hopes others will flock to this idea.
"I think there are more commercial buildings that use so much bright white light that have a much more negative effect," he says.
"I think what they've done in Chicago and Toronto...some people have gone to the owners to ask them to turn off their lights during migration season. They do that in New York City as well."
The blue-green lights reduce the risk of disorienting birds during their migratory period, which runs until June 15.
"They always deserve our respect, and if we can help them, that will help them survive, and we all need our birds," says Coutu.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
The father of Tori Stafford, an Ontario girl who was murdered in 2009, says the latest decision to transfer convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a minimum security prison is a 'slap in the face' to all murder victims' families.
Donald Trump said Thursday that he was indicted for mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, a remarkable development that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges by the federal government that he once oversaw.
A little white pill has given Syrian President Bashar Assad powerful leverage with his Arab neighbours, who have been willing to bring him out of pariah status in hopes he will stop the flow of highly addictive Captagon amphetamines out of Syria.
Smoke and flames continue to engulf much of Canada, with Alberta imposing new evacuation orders, Manitoba bracing for heavy, lightning-generating thunderstorms and high wildfire risks and poor air quality from coast to coast.
'Kids are being massacred in their schools, literally … their heads are being decapitated because of the power of an assault bullet, (which) is unlike anything, no other weapon,' says gun violence prevention activist Samuel Schwartz, who is among the organizers of a sit-in demanding change on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Video has surfaced showing a Mississauga, Ont. transit bus plowing into stopped traffic in a crash that left one person dead and at least eight injured on Thursday morning.
The Halifax Regional Municipality says it will announce Thursday when more residents can return to their homes in communities impacted by the Tantallon wildfires.
New Brunswick students under the age of 16 who identify as trans and non-binary won't be able to officially change their names or pronouns in school without parental consent.
After nearly three weeks of no rain in the Forest City and days of hazy skies caused by wildfires, it appears as though rain is finally in the forecast for later this the weekend.
Thousands of Canadians have had to leave their homes in several provinces over the last few weeks due to forest fires. Luckily, there are steps you can take to protect your property, both prior to an evacuation and during.
Scoring the opening goal of game three of the Stanley Cup finals wasn’t the only celebration Florida Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour was a part of this week.
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have been looking at ways to breed dairy cows that burp out less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change.
Tumbler Ridge, a community with a population of 2,400 in northeastern B.C., has been ordered to evacuate Thursday due to the danger posed by an encroaching wildfire.
A day after the NDP government presented its 30-point plan to address the crisis at Surrey Memorial Hospital, the official Opposition is pledging to build a tower, while acknowledging their role in the situation.
Court records show defrocked Oblate priest Eric Dejaeger is facing six charges of indecent assault and two charges of sexual assault for crimes he allegedly committed in Nunavut between 1978 and 1982.
Around 8:35 p.m. on Thursday, officers were called for a well-being check. When they arrived, officers found a man passed out in the vehicle’s driver’s seat and a woman in the passenger’s seat.
After days of poor air quality due to forest fires in the Maritimes and Northern Ontario, the air quality statement for southern Ontario is no longer in effect.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
Anthaea-Grace Patricia Dennis is not your typical 12-year-old. She is a child prodigy who's about to become the youngest Canadian to ever graduate from university.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
A man who killed his ex-wife’s cousin will spend life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a judge decided on Thursday at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench.
Canada's jobless rate ticked higher to 5.2 per cent in May, marking the first increase since August 2022 as economists have been watching for any sign of a softening labour market.
