A world-renowned wildlife photographer from Steinbach is one of many people noticing a decline in songbirds.

Dennis Fast says the Baltimore Oriole is one of the populations he’s concerned about due to a significant drop in sightings here in the Southeast.

Fast says he hears the same concern from fellow birdwatchers across the province. In fact, the decline in songbirds is noticed across North America and Fast says it’s drawing the attention of researchers.

Listen to the full interview with Dennis Fast:

He is concerned about the loss of habitat and how that impacts all wildlife.

Fast would like to see a more aggressive approach to helping forests recover from fires and from foresting.

Birds are also impacted by the weather, food source availability and disease.

Researchers often find useful information from various birdcounts that are conducted by amateur birdwatchers who are simply reporting the birds they see at their feeder.