The grasshopper sparrow is a small bird whose is derived from one of its songs. This bird is approximately 12 centimetres tall, with brown feathers.
This small bird lives in fields and meadows in sandy zones. We find it in the neighbourhoods of the river Richelieu but it is difficult to observe because it is species which often moves on the ground. Furthermore, in Quebec, the population of grasshopper sparrows is very small, even if we notice an increase in the number of individuals since 1965. The grasshopper sparrow winters in the South of the United States and in South America (Mexico).
The grasshopper sparrow is identified by the government of Quebec as susceptible to be classified as a threatened or vulnerable species. Indeed, this small bird is a victim of the lack of environment adequate to its survival because of the urbanization, the developement of farms and the plantations of conifers.
In Quebec, the peregrine falcon lives mainly on the edges of the river Saint Laurent and the river Richelieu. The peregrine falcon is a bird of prey which can be recognized by its black strips on the cheeks, its grey-blue feathers and its white breast. It possesses, as other birds of prey of the same type, a long tail and big sharp wings.
The female is slightly bigger than the male; it measures on average 50 cms in length for 910 grams while the male measures approximately 42 cms in length for 570 grams.
In flight, the peregrine falcon can reach the speed of 200 kms per hour, when it dives on its preys, what has earned it for decades, the title of one of the fastest birds of prey in the world. The peregrine falcons mostly eat small birds.
It is species indicated as being vulnerable by the Quebecois government. So, this species greatly suffered from the fatal effects of the excessive use of pesticides in the 1950s and 1960s. Couples were reintroduced in the 1970s and today, we count approximately 25 reproductive couples.
The cerulean warbler is a small blue bird for males and small grey-blue and green bird for females. This small bird of about ten centimetres nests in the top of trees. The cerulean warbler is a migratory bird which winters in South America.
The cerulean warbler is rare species which we find only in Ontario and in Quebec. In the province of Quebec, it lives mainly in the region of Montreal but we can also observe it in the neighbourhoods of the river Richelieu; we estimate the presence of about ten couples only.
It is thus a rare species, susceptible to be registered as a threatened or vulnerable species by the Quebec government, worried about the rarefaction of the population. Today, we know that the environment adequate to the installation of the cerulean has dwindled because of the increase of the agricultural and forest exploitations, the increasing urbanization and the long periods of black ice.
The red-headed woodpecker is a bird of an indescribable colour; its plumage suggests a contrast between red, black and white. It nests and perches in the top of very old big trees even dead ones, from where it firmly defends its territory, thanks to its powerful singing. It mainly eats insects of all kinds that it catches in flight. The red-headed woodpecker frequents flooded forests, urban zones and woody fringes.
It is a small rare bird which lives mainly in the United States and in the South of Canada. In Quebec , it is visible on the banks of the river Richelieu . In the United States it is a non migratory bird but in Quebec , the red-headed woodpecker migrates in the wintry period to warmer destinations.
The Quebec government indicates that the red-headed woodpecker is species that is susceptible to be indicated threatened or vulnerable in Quebec, because since the beginning of the 20 th century, the population has not stopped decreasing and this bird has even disappeared from certain regions of Quebec. The causes of this decrease are due to the loss of marginal areas provoked by the increase of farming and the cutting of the big old or dead trees.
