Higher numbers could be due to climate change and habitat loss

There’s an “eruption” of cardinals in parts of northeastern Ontario, according to the Sudbury Ornithological Society.

An eruption occurs when a particular bird species expands to a new area because of more available food or a dense population spreads out.

“This year there seems to be a lot of sightings in very strange locations like northern communities where they’re not usually seen,” said Chris Blomme, a member of the Sudbury Ornithological Society.

Cardinals are more common in warmer parts of Ontario, to the south and east.But this year, Blomme said bird watchers have spotted the red birds in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Espanola, Wawa and Greater Sudbury.

Blomme said cardinals like areas with good cover from predators such as cedar trees, and will gather in areas with available food, including bird feeders, in the winter.

“Manitoulin Island is a good place, for example, to see cardinals fairly regularly in some of the communities that are out there,” he said.

Climate change, habitat loss

Amy Henson, a senior staff scientist with Science North, in Sudbury, said climate change and habitat loss in southern Ontario are likely driving cardinals north.

“They’re constantly moving,” she said.

Henson said she has seen cardinals on her property in the community of Dowling, at the northern edge of Sudbury.

To give researchers a better idea of the cardinal population in northeastern Ontario, Henson recommended people participate in the Christmas Bird Count.

The citizen science project has been running for more than 100 years, and encourages regular people to count birds in their area and take note so the information is shared.