All across Canada, people sheltering at home have delighted in the birds outside their windows. Now millions of migratory birds are arriving from their wintering grounds to the south. These birds, many so small they fit into the palm of a child’s hand, have flown thousands of kilometres to make their nests and raise their young in our forests.  They have a few short months to ensure the survival of their kind.

A long standing federal and international law, the Migratory Birds Convention Act, says it is illegal to destroy birds or their nests during breeding season but this law is not working. Across Canada, whole forests are cut down while the birds are on their nests. The only way to enforce the law so it actually protects the birds is to require a ‘silent season’. This means all the machines cutting and hauling trees out of our forests fall silent during nesting season. The birds can safely sing their hearts out.