ActivitiesMichele Fog2026-08-06T11:20:11-04:00

Activities

Bird Protection Quebec organizes regular events throughout the year:

Guided field trips

Almost every weekend year-round

Monthly meetings

Each month from fall to spring, with expert speakers presenting on a range of topics

Christmas bird counts

Montreal and Hudson regions

Our pre-scheduled guided field trips will restart in September, and our monthly meetings will return in October.

During the summer months, we offer our “Summer Series of Birding” outings most Saturday morning from the end of June until the end of August. The destination of these outings is only determined a few days before, allowing the trip guide to take advantage of any special sightings or scout new locations, while also taking the weather into account. Complete details are announced through our eNews Bulletin, and the Bird Protection Quebec Facebook page

Guided field trips

BPQ’s Field Trip Committee organizes guided field trips almost every Saturday morning from the beginning of fall to the end of spring. Extra trips are added at special times, for example during spring migration, to take full advantage of the best birding opportunities. We also have trips during the summer months, but these are not pre-scheduled. Rather, destinations are chosen and announced only a few days in advance and announced through our Facebook page and our weekly eNews bulletin.

Our trips are learning and sharing experiences (meaning we walk slowly and stop frequently), and we welcome birders of all experience levels and of all backgrounds. Regardless of your ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, ability, religion, or culture there is a place for you in our flock!

Field trips are free of charge, except for parking or admission fees that are each person’s responsibility. They are open to all and registration is not required. Simply show up on time at the designated meeting spot and get ready for a fun morning of birding.

Monthly meetings

BPQ holds meetings, usually on the first Monday of each month from October through April, which feature a series of lectures by experts invited to present on a wide range of bird- and conservation-related topics.

Each meeting kicks off with the latest BPQ news and an opportunity for attendees to share their recent bird sightings, followed by the featured lecture. Holding our meetings online allows us to invite a wide-ranging group of international speakers and makes them accessible to people from outside the Montreal area, as well as to those having restricted mobility or other obstacles.

The meetings, including the featured lectures, are offered free of charge, and non-members are always welcome to attend.

Christmas bird counts

Participatory science (also known as community or citizen science) refers to amateurs contributing to projects or ongoing programs of scientific work in which a network of volunteers performs or manages research-related tasks such as observation, data collection, or analysis. The use of such networks often allows scientists to accomplish research objectives more feasibly than would otherwise be possible. In addition, these projects aim to promote public engagement with the research, as well as with science in general.

Begun in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is North America’s longest-running participatory science project and has spread to include volunteers participating in more than 2,000 locations across the Western Hemisphere. Birds Canada is responsible for the CBC program for Canada, in partnership with National Audubon Society. The information collected by thousands of volunteer scientists forms one of the world’s largest sets of wildlife survey data.

Areas across the country are divided into mandated 24 km-wide circles. Counts for each circle are organized by a compiler, a volunteer at the local level often supported by a birding club. Bird Protection Quebec has organized teams of volunteers for two CBC circles—one covering the Montreal region and the other the Hudson region— since 1936 and 1941 respectively. We encourage birders from other regions to get involved as well.

CBC General Information

CBCs are held on a date selected by our coordinators each year between December 14 and January 5. The Montreal circle is centered at the intersection of Sherbrooke Street West and Westminster Avenue in Montreal West. The Hudson circle is centered at Cooper Airport in Saint-Lazare and covers Coteau-du-Lac, Saint-Lazare, Hudson, Les Cèdres, St-Clet, Vaudreuil-Dorion and a small part of Oka.

You can contribute to the count in one of the two following ways. There is no charge for participating and no previous experience is required.

Field participant

Field participants are assigned to one of several existing teams responsible for covering a designated section of the circle. An experienced birder leads each team and is responsible for ensuring that detailed records are kept of all species seen and counted throughout the day.

Feeder watcher

If you maintain bird feeders at home and live within the count circle, you are invited to participate in the annual CBC by recording species seen at your feeders on the day of the count. Simply contact one of the CBC coordinators to verify your home falls within one of the two circles and to register your name and location. Instructions on how to participate will be provided to you, together with a bird species checklist to record your observations.

Can’t participate on the official CBC day?

If you are unable to participate but keep your bird feeders full, we’d be happy to have one of our teams pass by to make sure your feathered visitors are included in the year’s count data. Please contact one of the CBC coordinators to provide your location details.

How to get involved

Contact our coordinators by sending an email to info@birdprotectionquebec.org, subject line “Christmas Bird Count”, mentioning which of the two counts you would like to join or for which you want to register as a feeder watcher.

Other Links

Historical results from the North American CBCs provide important long-term baseline data on the population dynamics of many early winter species across the continent.

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