Welcoming the Tadoussac Bird Observatory!
The Observatoire d’Oiseaux de Tadoussac (OOT) is the first bird observatory in the province of Quebec and one of the most northerly in Eastern North America. More than 4.5 million birds were counted and 9 500 hours of surveillance were completed over a ten year period.
A wide variety of species can be observed in Côte-Nord; in fact, the region boasts the largest number of species in Québec, according to the eBird site (*348 out of the 461 species identified in the province).
The observatory is situated in the parc national du Fjord-du-Saguenay, above Moulin-à-Baude Bay. It is an exceptional site, situated as it is on the migratory route of the little-known boreal owl. The OOT has set up a surveillance programme to monitor boreal owl migration. Part of the programme includes a night-time activity whereby ornithologists capture and band northern saw-whet and boreal owls. This activity is well worth the experience during the Festival des oiseaux migrateurs (Migratory Bird Festival). The observation and capture of migratory birds takes place atop one of the sand dune plateaus, 60 metres above the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary.
Thank you to photographer Maxime Legare-Vezina for the Boreal Owl on our packaging.