If you have witnessed a scene during migration at Mary's Point or Johnson's Mills like the one shown above, you would think that we have an abundance of shorebirds. Well, that is not true. Our bird population numbers have been very much in decline over the past 50 years. This post describes the huge abundance experienced by early immigrants to the Maritime Provinces and in other parts of North America.
Razilly, one of Samuel de Champlain’s associates, sailed from France in 1632 with a large group of French citizens who were going to set up a settlement in New France. At that time there were small settlements at Quebec, Trois Rivières, Tadoussac, and Port Royal. They reached their destination on September 8, 1632 and the colonists came ashore on the Atlantic coast of Canada at a place they named, La Hève. Today this is known as, LaHave, near Bridgewater, NS.
This place had a beautiful harbour and was very attractive. At the mouth of the harbour was an island whose flat top was covered with raspberry bushes so they named it, Isle aux Framboises. According to the colonists, the island was completely covered with pigeons. Thousands of them were feeding on the ripe raspberries.
“To the settlers, Acadia seemed a place of unimaginable abundance. On both banks of the river they found ‘an infinity of scallops like those of Mont St. Michel and Saint Jacques’. In the waters off the coast they discovered ‘lobsters as big as little children’, with fore-claws that could hold a pint of good French wine. Salmon and shad swarmed in the river. There were large numbers of deer and moose, birds beyond imagining, wild blueberries and strawberries.”
The pigeons must have been Passenger Pigeons. ‘Birds beyond imagining’ must have been a sight to behold. The Passenger Pigeons flew in huge flocks, large enough to darken the skies for several minutes.
In another reference Champlain mentions shooting game for food and how easy it was to shoot thousands of shorebirds and other avian species for food. He described going to the shore of a river or other body of water and in just minutes coming back with thousands of birds taken down with their guns.
If the early settlers found that kind of abundance at LaHave, NS, in 1632, imagine what there was all over the Maritime area. It must have been an incredible sight. Perhaps they did not find it astonishing but if Champlain wrote about it, it must have been much more than what they were used to seeing in France.
Similar numbers were common in many other parts of North America as you would expect. Birds were so numerous they were shot and served in restaurants. Accoring to Professor Henry Nehrling in 1893, "There is scarcely a hotel in New Orleans where small birds do not form an item on the bill of fare. At certain seasons the robin, wood-thrush, thrasher, olive-backed thrush, hermit-thrush, chewink, flicker, and many of our beautiful sparrows form the bulk of the victims; but catbirds, cardinals, and almost all small birds, even swallows, can be found in the markets."
Humans are prone to extravagance and waste. Our small bird populations in the early days were slaughtered for 'sport' as well as food. The following quote describes the way they were shot as 'sport' in the US and the same behaviour quite likely occurred here.
According to John Muir, in Among the Birds of the Yosemite, 1898, "Not even genuine piety can make the robin-killer quite respectable. Saturday is the great slaughter day in the bay region. Then the city pot-hunters, with a ragtag of boys, go forth to kill, kept in countenance by a sprinkling of regular sportsmen arranged in self-conscious majesty and leggins, leading dogs and carrying hammerless, breech-loading guns of famous makers. Over the fine landscapes the killing goes forward with shameful enthusiasm. After escaping countless dangers thousands fall, big bagfuls are gathered, many are left wounded to die slowly, no Red Cross Society to help them."
It is no wonder our 'historical avian abundance' has disappeared. We modern humans are not innocent either. We have contributed hugely to the dramatic decline. Many articles have been written and speeches made about the causes. They will not be covered here but we need to soberly think about what we once had and what exists today. Take for example the Barn Swallow shown below. When we set up housekeeping in the late 1960s we had many pairs nesting in our barn and flying around our pond and the nearby river. They have all been gone now for several years. I have to look hard to find a Barn Swallow.
How did we get from the infinite abundance to our low numbers today and even to extinction? We need to soberly examine ourselves and change our ways and the repercussions of our so-called 'advanced' civilization before it is too late for many more species and eventually even ourselves!
Reference
Hackett Fisher, David. Champlain's Dream. Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2008. p. 483.
Hill, Jen, Ed. An Exhilaration of Wings. The Literature of Birdwatching. Viking Press, USA. 1999.
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