About Boundary Bay
Boundary Bay is a 250-square-kilometre biome of seashore, intertidal mud flats, estuaries, salt marshes, farmland and urban areas. The ecosystem is linked with those of the Fraser River, Burns Bog, Roberts Bank and Sturgeon Bank, together making up the Fraser River Estuary, an area noted for its species diversity and its great numbers of wintering waterfowl and birds of prey.
Habitats of Boundary Bay and the Fraser River Estuary support:
- millions of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway,
- over 333 different species of birds,
- more than 100,000 wintering waterfowl,
- 16 species of gull,
- at least three Great Blue Heron colonies,
- the last Canadian nesting population of Barn Owls, and
- one of Canada's largest winter populations of raptors, with 22 recorded species.
The Pacific Flyway
The north-south routes that migrating birds follow along the west coast of North America are referred to collectively as the Pacific Flyway. Boundary Bay, a major stop-over in the spring and fall, attracts 50 different species of shorebirds numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Travelling between wintering grounds in South or Central America and nesting areas north in the high Arctic, shorebirds, waterfowl and songbirds stop to rest and feed. This vital rest stop allows them to gain the energy and fat needed to fly on to their next stop, which may be thousands of kilometres away.
Why do the Birds Come Here? - Boundary Bay is marine influenced from the South Georgia Strait and has six rivers flowing into it. Estuaries, where salt and fresh water mix, are biologically rich and provide habitat for much wildlife.
- Along Boundary Bay's shores, expansive eelgrass beds, mudflats and salt marshes provide habitat to a myriad of algae, marine invertebrates and fish that in turn feed many species of birds.
- Deep waters beyond low tide provide habitat for birds, fish and marine mammals. Dozens of bird species can be seen in deep waters and along the rocky shore feeding on fish, crab, mussels and other marine life.
- Upland forests provide important habitat for songbirds, woodpeckers, hawks and owls. During spring and fall, warblers migrate through the woodlands.
Click here to view the Boundary Bay brochure!
Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society, with partners, invites you to celebrate
Boundary Bay, Canada's Top Bird Area.