Bird population may be in decline and research is being done at the University of Saskatchewan to understand why. A look into the impacts of wildfire smoke on the lungs of birds will be a big focus, thanks to support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant program.

Doctor Catherine Ivy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan and says the lungs of birds are very different from human lungs and may be more susceptible to the particulate matter in the air, which can clog up their lungs, impacting their health and migration patterns. “They may be less likely to complete a migration southbound, or even coming back up to us in Saskatoon, but what it could also mean is their ability to survive for multiple years could be shortened, so their life span will be shortened as well.”

Ivy says she hopes this research will give better insight into how birds respond to wildfire smoke and look at changes humans can make to improve the environment for the animals around us.