Birds of the Okanagan: A Vanishing Legacy

Overview

Born and raised in the Okanagan, Dick Cannings is a biologist, birder, and book author. He has written many books on birds and the natural history of British Columbia. Like all naturalists, Dick is concerned about the plight of species at risk, and in this video, we follow him in his search for birds at risk of the Okanagan. 200 birds nest in the Okanagan, which makes it the most diverse place for breeding birds in North America. The Okanagan is also a hot spot for species at risk in Canada. British Columbia is one of only two provinces (the other being Alberta) in Canada that does not have an endangered species law. Yet the province is home to more wild plant and animal species than any other province in Canada and is also one of the last holdouts for many large mammals that once roamed much of North America. Alarmingly, 1,900 species are on the provincial species at risk list.