A total of sixty-three species of birds were observed in the eight study areas. All species were considered as possible breeders within the Region of Waterloo, although nest success was only confirmed for ruffed grouse. These species included northern waterthrush in six of the eight tracts, winter wren in four tracts, great blue heron in three tracts, and swamp sparrow and belted kingfisher in two tracts. In addition, a heron rookery was discovered by Julie Harwood and Susan Scott in the Townline East tract, adjacent to the Townline West Tract. A nest count will take place after leaf-fall in 1999.
Wetlands are important habitats to a variety of birds in varying degrees.
Many of these species have also become rare in response to the loss of crucial wetland habitat. The fact that such a high percentage of wetlands remain intact within the highly developed Waterloo Region underscores their significance. A number of species observed during this survey were neotropical migrants. Some of these species require large contiguous areas to breed successfully. Brown-headed cowbirds, which were observed in five of the eight survey sites in this study, are known to have particularly strong negative effects on many species of neotropical migrants.