Bird friendly halifax.
Make Halifax Safer for Birds
Bird Friendly Halifax brings together community members, conservation organizations, researchers, and local government to reduce threats to birds and create a city where both people and wildlife can thrive.
birds are in decline.
what is the problem?
North America has lost nearly three billion birds since 1970, representing almost one quarter of the continent’s bird population. Habitat loss, climate change, pesticides and declining insect populations, free roaming cats, and collisions with buildings continue to threaten bird populations every day.
Halifax sits along one of Atlantic Canada’s most important migration routes. Every spring and fall, thousands of birds depend on our forests, coastlines, wetlands, and urban green spaces to rest, feed, and nest.
The good news is that many of these threats are preventable. Local action can make a real difference.
meet the team.
expertise in conservation, research, education, and community engagement.
Bird Friendly Halifax is a coalition of environmental organizations, researchers, community groups, bird enthusiasts, and residents working together to make Halifax Regional Municipality safer for birds.
Our members include representatives from:
- Birds Canada
- Ecology Action Centre
- Dalhousie University
- Halifax Regional Municipality
- Hope for Wildlife
- Haliflocks
- Friends of the public gardens
- Nature Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia Bird Society
- Community volunteers
Together we identify conservation challenges, support research, advocate for bird friendly policies, and engage our community through education, outreach, and stewardship.
Current Chair
Jess Lewis
our projects.
Reducing window collisions, restoring habitat, promoting bird friendly policies, encouraging responsible cat ownership, engaging residents, monitoring bird populations, and building lasting partnerships for conservation.
bird friendly coffee
Bird friendly coffee
demo sites
Demo Sites
free-roaming Cats
Free roaming cats
bird week
Halifax bird week
youth education & outreach
Youth & education outreach
habitat restoration
Habitat restoration
bird of the year
Bird of the year
world migratory bird day
World migratory bird day
operation window strike
Operation window strike.
advocacy and policy
Advocacy and policy
bird friendly report card.
Bird friendly report card
becoming bird friendly.
Nature Canada created the Bird Friendly City program
Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City program recognizes municipalities that are making their communities safer for birds by reducing threats, protecting and restoring habitat, and engaging residents in bird conservation.
Following an in depth review of Halifax’s strengths and opportunities for improvement, Bird Friendly Halifax applied for certification through Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly City program. In the fall of 2022, Halifax Regional Municipality was awarded Entry Level Bird Friendly City status, narrowly meeting the certification requirements.
Since then, our coalition has worked to strengthen bird conservation across the municipality through projects that reduce window collisions, restore habitat, encourage responsible cat ownership, advance bird friendly policies, and engage residents in protecting local bird populations.
In 2025, Halifax successfully maintained its Entry Level Bird Friendly City designation with a significantly improved certification score of 80%, demonstrating the progress our community has made. While we are proud of how far we’ve come, we continue working toward achieving a higher level of certification.
You can learn more about our most recent Bird Friendly City application and the progress we’ve made below.
how you can help birds at home.
small daily habits like applying window decals and keeping pets indoors make a huge difference.
Small actions can save birds.
• Install bird-safe window treatments
• Keep cats indoors or supervised outdoors
• Plant native trees, shrubs, and flowers
• Reduce pesticide use
• Support local conservation initiatives
• Participate in community science programs such as bird counts
