Posts by author
John Wilmshurst
Ruby-throated Rulers
The Fierce Lives of Hummingbirds Are hummingbirds small and cute? Yes. Are they colourful? Yes, usually, but more on that soon. Are they a key component to ecosystems and yet…
Energy Can Be Renewable, Grasslands Less So
There once was more than 53 million hectares of natural grasslands in Canada. The plow, roads and cities have reduced this to about 10 million hectares — about an 81…
Guardians of Canada’s Grasslands
I didn’t grow up on the prairies, but as a kid I dreamed that I did. I read about life in the “wild west” and watched the movies. In my…
Grassland Birds are Declining – Insects Could be the Reason
In the last 50 years, bird populations that live in Canada’s prairies have declined by 60 per cent. Given the size of these populations, this means that millions of birds…
The prairies are a secret superhero ready and waiting to fight climate change
“…We owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact it rains.” This quote, attributed with some doubt to the late Paul Harvey, an American radio farm…
The Prairie Duck Factory
Home on the range, where the … ducks … and the antelope play? In A Sand County Almanac, that classic of natural history published in 1949, Aldo Leopold describes the…
Am I Bugging You?
It is a common — and completely understandable — misconception that the best habitats for biodiversity are undisturbed habitats. The grasslands conjure an image of thick mature forests, tall waving grasses…
Conserving Our Pollen Nation
If prairie flowers were countries, and bees their only residents, then not only would this world rival ours for diversity and population size, but their economies would be, well, humming.…
Partnering With Ranchers to Conserve Vulnerable Grassland Wildlife
When the job is this big, you need good partners Many of Canada’s most iconic and vulnerable animals — wild bison, Pronghorn, Prairie Dogs, Burrowing Owls, Sage Grouse, Swift Foxes…
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Working on a winter science project not long ago, my team was struggling to find the groups of elk we needed for the study. Elk were around, but well hidden…
