Who are we and what are our goals?
The Canadian boreal forest contains one of the most diverse populations of breeding songbirds in North America. While existing evidence indicates that populations of neotropical migratory birds have been steadily decreasing, it is unclear to what degree these declines have been influenced by factors on the breeding or wintering grounds, or both. Most of the research and monitoring has been conducted in the eastern United States and baseline information from central North America and Canada is scarce at best. The health and population status of breeding birds for profit in the Canadian boreal forest is difficult to determine, as they are mostly inaccessible and therefore difficult to census. Migration monitoring stations offer a solution to this problem, as large numbers of birds are captured during spring and fall migration, year after year, and the data monitored for long-term trends