Birders on lookout for new species on P.E.I.

Birders on P.E.I. have been up since 3 a.m. combing the Island as part of the annual Bennett Birding Classic.

The event, part fundraiser and part citizen science, aims to collect a snapshot of how many species of birds are on the Island during the autumn migration.

Dan MacAskill, one of the organizers, said teams have seen up to 108 species in the previous 25 years they've run the event.

"It gives us an assessment of what's happening over time so you can pick up trends based on this count for P.E.I. and we'll use that when we revise the field checklist of birds of Prince Edward Island."

The data has been used to observe a decline in some species, mainly woodland and grassland birds and fly catchers.

MacAskill attributed the decline to an increase in the threat of cats as predators.

The event wraps up after dark Saturday night.

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