Taking flight : A survey of overwintering bird diversity in the Champlain Heights trail system

As urbanization increases worldwide, urban greenspaces provide oases of environmental, economic, and recreational benefits. The strength of these in-demand ecosystem services are closely linked to biodiversity, of which birds serve as excellent bioindicators. In the face of growing urban populations, maintaining connectivity between greenspaces is crucial for metropolitan avian populations. By monitoring urban bird populations we can infer clues towards the ecological health of the greenspaces and status of the ecosystem services. The Champlain Heights trail system is a 1.5 km long pedestrian pathway network in southeast Vancouver that is both highlighted as a bird hotspot and prioritized for urban redevelopment and renewal. While Champlain Heights’ importance as an ecological corridor to nearby greenspaces is generally understood, the current use of the space by overwintering bird species is largely unknown. This study aims to capture a comprehensive picture of the overwintering bird species composition, relative frequency, and biodiversity, to inform landscape stewardship actions and urban development. We collected data through 12 surveys of 11 sites from January 17th to February 27th, 2026 in the Champlain Heights trail system and neighbouring Everett Crowley Park. Surveys consisted of 5-minute point counts, 1 hour after sunrise, where birds were identified within a 20 m radius. With our 2,380 individual observations, we calculated relative bird abundances and biodiversity indices, and examined the relationship between stewardship of a site to its biodiversity. Our methodology was designed in a way to allow for replicability across locations by future studies. The data were compared to supplemental data collected by external studies at the UBC farm, UBC Botanical Gardens, Arbutus Greenway, and city-wide surveys. Our results showed 32 unique species within our study area. The vast majority of species observed were native, with only one observation of an invasive species. We determined that stewardship had mixed effects on local biodiversity, although this may be influenced by differing timescales of stewardship activities across sites. Collectively Everett Crowley Park and the Champlain Heights trail system each far surpass the biodiversity of the general Vancouver metropolitan area. The Champlain Heights trail system has a comparable biodiversity to known avian hotspots within the city, but with a distinct species composition. Our findings indicate Champlain Heights’ importance as an ecological corridor and biodiversity hotspot within Vancouver, and we intend for this knowledge to inform implementation of the Vancouver Bird Strategy and the Ecological Network Vision. We commend the efforts of stewardship groups and recommend long-term monitoring of stewardship areas to observe any effects on bird diversity. Finally, we recommend the continuation of avian diversity studies within Vancouver’s greenspaces.