Birds Canada is a 4-star charity that is financially transparent. Its results reporting grade is a B, which is average. Birds Canada’s overhead spending is 21%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity has reserve funds to cover program cost for almost one year.

Founded in 1960, Birds Canada works to conserve wild birds in Canada through science, partnerships, public engagement, and advocacy. The charity hopes to increase the understanding, appreciation, and conservation of birds in Canada. Since 1970, 3 billion birds (nearly 1 in 3) have been lost in North America and almost 60% of Canada’s grassland birds have disappeared.

The Assessing the State of Canada’s Birds program was 31% of program spending in F2023. Birds Canada conducts leading scientific research and large-scale population monitoring to guide the conservation of all bird groups. As part of the Great Backyard Bird Count event in F2023, Birds Canada helped identify 7,538 bird species. Birds Canada is also co-leading an international loon science group, where the charity will study loon monitoring data from throughout North America.

The Species of Highest Concern program was 25% of program spending. Through this program, the charity works with landowners to monitor and protect species at risk. Birds Canada also hosts a podcast, The Warblers, to raise awareness about the species most at risk. In F2023, the charity released a documentary called Of Waterfalls and Wings.

The Migration Science and International Collaboration program was 16% of program spending. Birds Canada partners with other groups and organizations to fill critical knowledge gaps and share the responsibility of conserving migratory birds. In F2023, the charity collaborated with an Indigenous group to host two Motus Wildlife Tracking System stations and deploy 18 radio transmitters on White-throated Sparrows to better understand the migration patterns.

The Mobilizing People in Canada program was 13% of program spending. Birds Canada works with bird enthusiasts, raises awareness, and provides opportunities for people to take action. In F2023, the charity’s award-winning podcast, which featured seven of Canada’s Species at Risk, hit over 100,000 downloads.

The Important Places for Birds program was 9% of program spending. In F2023, the charity worked with partners and launched Canada’s Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Program and released a new KBA registry.

The Long Point Bird Observatory program was 6% of program spending. In F2023, the observatory counted more than 2.5 million birds of 286 species and banded a total of 26,211 birds of 142 species.

Birds Canada had Canadian donations and special event revenues of $3.6m in F2023, up 38% from F2022.

The charity received $5.0m in government funding representing 54% of total revenues, and $960k in international donations.

Administrative costs are 9% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 11% of donations and special events. This results in total overhead spending of 21%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Birds Canada has $7.8m in reserve funds. These reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments. The charity has almost 1 year of annual program costs covered by its current reserves.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Birds Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 13, 2024, by Lily Ferguson.