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Enormous whales, belugas and seals are found in the
St. Lawrence River. These marine mammals are drawn by the abundant food found
in these waters, as are the hundreds of thousands birds
living in the area. Fish and shellfish are caught
as food by humans, though quotas are established to prevent overfishing. Did you
know that laws exist to protect endangered animals, plants
and habitats? And there are many fun facts
to learn about the river!
The St. Lawrence River has over 10 000 islands of all sizes, many of which are
uninhabited and serve as a nesting ground for birds, well away from human civilization.
Dozens of species of shore birds are quite content to stay close to home, except
for migratory birds that flock to the marshes by the hundreds of thousands in
the spring and fall.
Shore birds
The banks of the St. Lawrence
Migrating birds follow the St. Lawrence River when travelling to and
from their winter homes in the south. Several shore birds that live
on the banks of the St. Lawrence River are migratory species. In the
spring, they head north to the river, and when autumn arrives, they
depart once more. The various habitats found along the river are home
to different birds, depending on the type of ground, sources of food,
water salinity levels and the protection offered against predators.
Colonies of sand pipers, terns, diving ducks and seagulls live on
the banks of the St. Lawrence Estuary, where the water is salty, while
the cliffs overlooking the sea are home to Northern gannets, double-crested
cormorants and even more seagulls. As you can see, seagulls do not
only nest near garbage dumps and fast-food restaurants!
Snow goose population explosion
A protected species for 30 years now, the snow goose has survived
being nearly hunted to extinction. But the size of its population
is now cause for alarm, having gone from 30 000 animals in 1970 to
over a million today! Did you know that at the Cap Tourmente National
Wildlife Area, 30 km (18 miles) north of Quebec City, an enormous
flock of snow geese roost there every year, their arrival heralded
by a cacophony most "fowl"?
Snow geese feast on a particular marsh plant
On their long voyage to the Canadian Arctic, snow geese require a
lot of energy. When they feel hungry and want to rest, they stop at
certain marshes with a low level of water salinity along the St. Lawrence
River, where they eat the roots of the three-square bulrush, a common
marsh plant.
Martha, the last American passenger pigeon
Up until the end of the 1800s, American passenger pigeons lived on
the banks of the St. Lawrence in the summer, where the females laid
their eggs. When these birds gathered and flew overhead in enormous
flocks, it was said the sky went black! A hunter could bag thousands
of them a single day! And this bird was reputed to be very good eating.
Within a few hundred years, this pigeon was wiped out by hunters in
Canada and the United States.
Some biologists think the destruction of marshes, one of this bird's
natural habitats, probably jeopardized its ability to reproduce, and
thus threatened its survival. Did you know that when the passenger
pigeon became extinct, there were only 3000 snow geese in all of North
America? Today, there are nearly 1 million of the latter birds!
The last American passenger pigeon, which was named Martha, died on
September 1, 1914, at the Cincinnati Zoo in the United States.
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