COSEWIC candidate wildlife species

Common name: Dwarf Western Trillium

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Trilium ovatum hibbersonii

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2020

Rationale: This species occurs only on western Vancouver Island, at a handful of remote and relatively inaccessible sites. Threats include mostly collateral damage from construction of logging roads, increased forest cover as succession proceeds, and rock gardeners who remove plants from the wild.

Common name: [a darkling beetle]

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Ephalus latimanus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This flightless beetle is known in Canada only from Sable Island, Nova Scotia and is perhaps an ice age relict from the Georges Bank refugia. Elsewhere it ranges on coastal dunes on the US Atlantic seaboard from New Jersey to Maine. This species is a common nocturnal species on sand dunes throughout its range. The species lives in loose sand and leaf litter around the roots and at the base of plants such as sea rocket, Cakile edentula (Bigelow) Hook. (Brassicaceae), and seaside goldenrod, Solidago sempervirens L. (Asteraceae).

Common name: Atlantic Mackerel

Taxonomic group: Marine fishes

Scientific name: Scomber scombrus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Wildlife Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Atlantic Mackerel is found in the waters of the Northwest Atlantic from North Carolina to Newfoundland. During spring and summer, Atlantic Mackerel is found in inshore waters. From late fall and in winter, it is found deeper in warmer waters at the edge of the continental shelf. In Canadian waters, spawning occurs mainly in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence during June and July. Atlantic Mackerel have declined about 80% since the late 1990s. Overfishing is considered the main threat.

Common name: Cleland's Evening-primrose

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Oenothera clelandii

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2020

Rationale: This annual/biennial wildflower has a small and localized distribution in Ontario and occurs in very low numbers. Threatened by habitat loss, disturbance and climate change, it has very few extant sites recorded in recent years and is considered critically imperilled in Ontario.

Common name: Forked Bluecurls

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Trichostema dichotomum

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency, Quebec

Proposed call for bids date: 2020

Rationale: Forked Bluecurls is an annual in the mint family (Lamiaceae), widespread in the eastern USA but reaching Canada in only 8-9 subpopulations in southernmost Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Numbers are low (unknown in Ontario, 5,000 to 10,000 in Quebec and 300 in Nova Scotia) and plants occur over only 3.6 hectares in Canada. Ontario and Quebec occurrences are in sand barrens subject to the impacts of invasive species, all-terrain vehicles, land conversion for other uses, and natural succession in the absence of fire. The Nova Scotia plants occur in a single, relatively remote rock barren opening potentially threatened by unauthorized all-terrain vehicle use and gold mining.

Common name: Large-lipped Sand Beetle

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Omophron labiatum

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This beetle is only known in Canada from Sable Island, and is disjunct from the nearest known populations in New England and Massachusetts. The species occurs in open, sandy, and usually damp ground along the coastal zone, from sea beaches inland to altitudes up to about 275 m, as well as saline beaches or on the bare shores of ponds, lakes and rivers. The species is nocturnal, and adults appear to be gregarious, so it is often found in large numbers where it occurs.

Common name: Rough-leaved Aster

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Eurybia radulina

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2020

Rationale: Rough-leaved aster (Eurybia radulina (A. Gray) G.L. Nesom) is a perennial herb with few to several, ascending to erect short-hairy stems, 10-70 cm tall. Stem leaves broadly oblanceolate or spoon-shaped, to 13 cm long, hairy, toothed. Flowering heads with ray and disk flowers; ray flowers white to pale violet; disk flowers yellow. Occurs on dry rock outcrops and open forests in the lowland zone of SE Vancouver Island; known from 4 sites but may occur at one or more of 7 historical sites.

Common name: Sable Island Borer

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Papaipema sp.

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This moth is an undescribed subspecies of Noctuid moth that is globally endemic to Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The larval host is unknown, but it may bore the roots and stems of a single Asteraceae like related species. The larvae of the sister species on mainland Nova Scotia (P. nelita) bore into stems and roots of the aster Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata L.).Adult records are from mid-August and mid-September and are attracted to lights. The habitat is unknown but there are limited possibilities (i.e. grassland/herbaceous, sand/dune, shrubland/chaparral) on Sable Island which is treeless, sandy and dry.

Common name: Sable Island Cutworm Moth

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Agrotis arenarius

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This species is a Noctuid moth endemic to Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The moth has an annual life cycle and is dependent on Ammophila grasses. These grasses are native to coasts of the North Atlantic and are found almost exclusively on the first line of coastal sand dunes, have creeping underground stems or rhizomes allow them to thrive under conditions of shifting sands and high winds, and help to stabilize and prevent coastal erosion. Many species in this genus are of great importance as cutworms, major agricultural pests whose larvae hide by day and emerge at night to feed. Not all species in this genus are agricultural pests.

Common name: Sable Island Eucosma

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Eucosma sableana

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This moth is globally endemic to Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The moth presumably has a 1-year life cycle. The larval food plant is unknown. Eucosma sableana is closely related to the widespread species E. ochrocephala, which feeds on cocklebur (Xanthium spp.) as a larva. Xanthium does not occur on Sable Island, but perhaps the food plant is another Asteraceae species. It is noted as being "common at light in August and September".

Common name: Sable Island Leaf Beetle

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Tricholochmaea sablensis

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This species appears to be a post-glacial relict species found only on Sable Island, Nova Scotia. It has been collected from bog cranberry (Vaccinmium macrocarpon), which is restricted to a cranberry bog near a small freshwater lake on Sable Island. The lake, which had a salinity of 25 ppm was less saline than any of the surrounding lakes. Collecting on Sable Island in 1976-77 and 1989 failed to find any on Sable Island and recent work in 2004 has also failed to turn up any specimens, casting some doubt on whether the species is still extant.

Common name: Short-fruited Rush

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Juncus brachycarpus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2020

Rationale: This perennial rush is restricted in Canada to remnants of moist, sandy prairie in Windsor, Ontario. Major threats include residential and commercial development, transportation corridor development, invasive species and encroachment of trees and shrubs in the prairie habitat due to lack of fire.

Common name: Valley Grasshopper

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Oedaleontus enigma

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This grasshopper is associated with arid shrub-steppe in the intermountain west and reaches its northern limit in the southern Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. Within its Canadian range, it is highly localized and has only been recorded at one site; a parcel of provincial crown land that is under threat of annexation for conversion to residential housing by the Town of Osoyoos. In the US portion of its range, this species sometimes increases to outbreak proportions and is considered a range pest, although it is primarily a forb and shrub feeder and will feed heavily on introduced forbs that themselves degrade range condition. Native host plants include spring parsley, balsamroot, big sagebrush, and rabbitbrush as well as several introduced weeds: redstem filaree, flixweed, and downy brome.

Common name: White-marked Tussock Moth (Sable Island spp.)

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Orgyia leucostigma sablensis

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This moth is globally endemic to Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The species was described as an endemic subspecies of the more widespread White-marked Tussock Moth, based on collections from Sable Island in the 1970s. Larvae were collected from blueberry, cranberry, iris, bayberry and both grasses and sedges. On the mainland other subspecies of White-marked Tussock Moth larvae feed on a wide variety of plants including both conifers and flowering plants. Adults have been collected from early August into mid-September.

Common name: White-winged Grasshopper

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Dissosteira spurcata

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date:

Rationale: This grasshopper is associated with arid shrub-steppe in the intermountain west. It reaches its northern limit in the southern Okanagan Valley. Within its Canadian range, it is highly localized and has been recently recorded at only two sites. One is a Haynes Lease Wildlife Area at the north end of Osoyoos Lake and the other is a parcel of crown land on the west side of Osoyoos. While the wildlife area is secure, the crown land is under pressure for annexation and development by the town of Osoyoos. It is currently used for off-road driving and hiking. The species could also occur on the east side of Osoyoos Lake on the Osoyoos Indian Reserve. This would not greatly change the status of the species.

Common name: Arctic Orangebush Lichen

Taxonomic group: Lichens

Scientific name: Xanthaptychia aurantiaca

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Northwest Territories, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Xanthaptychia aurantiaca is narrowly restricted to western portions of the Canadian Arctic. It is a relatively large bright orange macrolichen that is conspicuous on the landscape. However, there are only 14 known collections. The region has been thoroughly surveyed for lichens (see map under Search Effort), with over 6600 lichens collections known. This suggests that X. aurantiaca is not only narrowly endemic, but also rare within its range. All collections are coastal. Most collections have been made on Banks Island and the Parry Peninsula in the Northwest Territories. This species is threatened by a loss of habitat from rapidly eroding coasts, saline wash resulting from storm surges, and permafrost melting. These threats are due to a reduction in sea ice cover on the Beaufort Sea and changes in weather patterns caused by on-going climate change.

Common name: Horned Lark

Taxonomic group: Birds

Scientific name: Eremophila alpestris

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, Alsek Renewable Resources Council, British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Carmacks Renewable Resources Council, Carcross/Tagish Renewable Resources Council, Canadian Wildlife Service, Dawson District Renewable Resources Council, Dän Keyi Renewable Resources Council, Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, Laberge Renewable Resources Council, Manitoba, Mayo District Renewable Resources Council, New Brunswick, Nisga'a Joint Fisheries Management Committee, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut Territory, Nisga'a Wildlife Committee, Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, North Yukon Renewable Resources Council, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency, Porcupine Caribou Management Board, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, Selkirk Renewable Resources Council, Teslin Renewable Resources Council, Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-management Board, Wildlife Management Advisory Council - North Slope, Wildlife Management Advisory Council - Northwest Territories, Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board, Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, Yukon Territory

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Horned Lark is a Holarctic landbird that occurs in Canada's tundra and prairie grasslands, and other open landscapes from seaside barrens to above the alpine tree-line. One of the eight subspecies that occur in Canada, Streaked Horned Lark, was assessed by COSEWIC as Endangered in 2003 and 2018; the other seven are considered here. Horned Lark subspecies differ in range, body size and colouration. Most subspecies have populations estimated at >1 million mature individuals in Canada, but Pallid Horned Lark and Dusky Horned Lark may have only 15,000 to 20,000 mature individuals each. Overall, the Canadian population of Horned Lark is estimated to be about 28 million mature individuals. After apparent increases in the late 1800s, most populations have declined continuously since the 1940s, with loss of marginal agricultural areas and intensification of agriculture in breeding areas, and loss of native grassland habitat negatively affecting populations on both breeding and wintering grounds. Population estimates and trends are difficult to determine for individual subspecies, and appear to vary substantially. However, at the national level, Breeding Bird Survey data for Horned Lark show a long-term (1970-2018) decline of 89% (95% credible interval: -91%, -86%), corresponding to a trend of -4.4% per year (-4.9%, -4.0%), with a short-term (2008-2018) decline of -58% (-64%, -52%), corresponding to an annual trend of -8.4% (-9.7%, -7.0%).

Common name: Lupine Leafroller Moth

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Anacampsis lupinella

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: Lupine Leafroller Moth (Anacampsis lupinella) ranges in southern Ontario within the dry, open oak woodland, pitch pine-scrub oak barrens where the host plant, Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is present. Wild Lupine is also at-risk and ranked vulnerable (N2N3) in Canada and Ontario (S2S3). Records date from 1901 - 2017 and the species is known from High Park (Toronto), the St. Williams Conservation Reserve (and a nearby private property, both in Norfolk County), and in the Karner Blue Sanctuary( Lambton County). An additional subpopulation may be present in/around Pinery Provincial Park, where a moderate-sized wild lupine population persists. Threats include invasive species that are changing the ecosystem and impacting the host plans, pesticide spray to control non-native Gypsy Moth outbreaks, and habitat conversion and fragmentation.

Common name: Oslar's Roadside Skipper

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Amblyscirtes oslari

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Saskatchewan

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Oslar's Roadside Skipper (Amblyscirtes oslari) is a dry, mixed grass prairies, open woodlands, ravines, and canyons prairie butterfly with a restricted range in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Adults fly from May to July, there is one generation per season and the larvae feed on blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) or other grasses. The species is known from eight sites: Lethbridge (AB), Writing-on-stone Provincial Park (AB), Taber (AB), North Pinhorn Grazing Preserve (AB), Estuary (SK), Val Marie (SK), Deer Forks (SK) and Roche Percee (SK). Widespread habitat conversion during the early 1900s and the loss of Plains Bison contributed to the loss of prairie grassland habitat suitable for this species. Current threats include agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation and lack of connectivity between natural grassland fragments, invasive plants that change soil chemistry and/or outcompete native larval and nectar host plants, and roadside/agricultural pesticide use. There are currently no Canadian records on iNaturalist, BugGuide or other citizen science/online forums.

Common name: Pahaska Skipper

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Hesperia pahaska

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Manitoba, Parks Canada Agency, Saskatchewan

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Pahaska Skipper (Hesperia pahaska) is a dry, mixed grass prairie and open pine forest butterfly with a restricted range in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Adults fly from June to July, with one generation per season in Canada and larvae feed on blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), with fluff grass (Erioneuron pulchellum) also reported as a host plant in other parts of its US range. Records are from 1928 to 2009 from five sites including Surprise Valley (SK), Rosefield (SK), Minton (1928, SK), Grasslands National Park (SK) and Miniota (MB). Widespread habitat conversion during the early 1900's and the loss of Plains Bison contributed to the loss of prairie grassland habitat suitable for this species. Current threats include agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation and lack of connectivity between natural grassland fragments, invasive plants that change and/or outcompete native larval and nectar host plants, and roadside/agricultural pesticide use. There are currently no Canadian records on iNaturalist, BugGuide or other citizen science/online forums.

Common name: Paintedhand Mudbug

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Lacunicambarus polychromatus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: The Paintedhand Mudbug (Lacunicambarus polychromatus) is a burrowing crayfish known in Canada from one subpopulation in Windsor, Ontario. This freshwater species excavates its own burrows in low-lying habitats close to the water table, including the banks and floodplains of lakes and rivers, roadside ditches, and wetlands. The life history is poorly known although the species consumes both plant material and animals such as insects and worms, seizing passing prey from the mouth of their burrows. Threats include a any form of development that impacts wetland longevity, quality and sustainability: wetland habitat infilling, conversion, water diversion (to wetlands), pesticide/wastewater/roadside salt run-off.

Common name: Pale Evening-primrose

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Oenothera pallida pallida

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Pale Evening-primrose (Oenothera pallida ssp. pallida) is a perennial rhizomatous herb with erect or ascending, simple or branched stems more than 20 cm tall. Flowers are large and fragrant, several to many, on leafy spikes with four pink or purple petals. Fruits are linear capsules. This subspecies is known from dry sandy slopes and banks in seven subpopulations in the south Okanagan of British Columbia, and in several US states as well.

Common name: Pine Broomrape

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Aphyllon pinorum

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Pine broomrape is a self-fertile achlorophyllous, obligate root parasite that was first observed in 1914 in BC somewhere along the Cowichan River, and then re-discovered in 2000 in Koksilah River Provincial Park. It appears to parasitize Holodiscus exclusively. It is also found outside the park in forest lands that have been and likely will be harvested in the future.

Common name: Prairie Rosinweed

Taxonomic group: Vascular plants

Scientific name: Silphium terebinthinaceum

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This tall perennial plant is restricted In Canada to small, remnant prairie habitats in southwestern Ontario. There are likely six populations with a total of approximately 2500 plants, most of which are found in one population. Threats to all populations include encroachment by woody plants due to fire suppression and invasive species. Habitat conversion to housing, roads, and agriculture threaten many of the populations.

Common name: Sable Island Bordered Apamea

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Apamea sordens sableana

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: This subspecies is a noctuid moth endemic to Sable Island, Nova Scotia. It has an annual life cycle and its larvae feed on dune-associated grasses. Many species in this genus are of great importance as cutworms, major agricultural pests whose larvae hide by day and emerge at night to feed. Not all species in this genus are agricultural pests.

Common name: Simius Roadside Skipper

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Notamblyscirtes simius

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Saskatchewan

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Simius Roadside-Skipper (Notamblyscirtes simius) is a mixed grass prairie butterfly with a restricted range in southern Saskatchewan. Adults fly from May to July, there is one generation per season and the larvae feed on blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). The species is known from three sites in southern Saskatchewan including Rosefeld (1968), Val Marie (1983) and an unknown collection locality that needs further investigation. There are no known documented occurrences in Canada since at least 1998. Widespread habitat conversion during the early 1900's and the loss of Plains Bison contributed to the loss of prairie grassland habitat suitable for this species. Current threats include agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation and lack of connectivity between natural grassland fragments, invasive plants that change and/or outcompete native larval and nectar host plants, and roadside/agricultural pesticide use. There are currently no Canadian records on iNaturalist, BugGuide or other citizen science/online forums.

Common name: Snowy Owl

Taxonomic group: Birds

Scientific name: Bubo scandiacus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, Alsek Renewable Resources Council, British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Carmacks Renewable Resources Council, Carcross/Tagish Renewable Resources Council, Canadian Wildlife Service, Dawson District Renewable Resources Council, Dän Keyi Renewable Resources Council, Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board, Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board, Hunting, Fishing and Trapping Coordinating Committee, Inuvialuit Game Council, Laberge Renewable Resources Council, Manitoba, Mayo District Renewable Resources Council, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut Territory, Nisga'a Wildlife Committee, Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, North Yukon Renewable Resources Council, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, Selkirk Renewable Resources Council, Teslin Renewable Resources Council, Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-management Board, Wildlife Management Advisory Council - North Slope, Wildlife Management Advisory Council - Northwest Territories, Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board, Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, Yukon Territory

Proposed call for bids date: 2021

Rationale: Snowy Owl is a large Arctic predator that travels long distances in response to fluctuating prey abundance. Although previously thought to number over 200,000 worldwide, recent studies concluded that the global population is likely to be <30,000 mature individuals, of which approximately 30-40% likely breed in Canada, primarily in the tundra of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, but also at the northern fringes of Manitoba, Quebec, and Labrador. Data from the Christmas Bird Count indicate a long-term average annual decline of 1.7% year, amounting to 46% over three generations (36 years). Threats underlying this decline are not well known, although the rapid pace of climate change in the Arctic breeding grounds is likely a key factor through altering prey availability and other effects on habitat.

Common name: Bermuda Petrel

Taxonomic group: Birds

Scientific name: Pterodroma cahow

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Atlantic Ocean, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Parks Canada Agency, Prince Edward Island

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: Bermuda Petrel or Cahow is a small gadfly petrel and one of the world's rarest seabirds. Once thought to be extinct, 8 pairs were found nesting on the Castle Harbour islands in Bermuda in 1951. Numbers have increased to 134 pairs in 2020, in response to intensive conservation and management efforts, with about 80% now nesting in artificial burrows. Recent telemetry tracking studies have shown that Bermuda Petrel regularly forages over deep waters within the Canadian 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone southeast of Nova Scotia, during incubation and chick-rearing periods in April and May. Significant threats at the Bermudan breeding colonies include competition with native White-tailed Tropicbird for nest sites, effects of pesticides, and predation by introduced rats. The primary threat is posed by increasing frequency and intensity of fall storms that periodically inundate colonies and destroy low-lying nest sites, exacerbated by ongoing sea level rise. Threats at sea are poorly known, but likely include lighting on ships and structures, offshore wind power development, and climate-related range shifts in prey species.

Common name: Canadian Philaronia

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Philaronia canadensis

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: The Canadian Philaronia is a spittle bug historically known from a small area of distribution in the Great Lakes region where it occurs in southern Ontario and northern Michigan. There are only 5 confirmed records in the Great Lakes region since 1989. The species was once widespread in Southern Ontario and Michigan, and the number of known subpopulations in Ontario has declined from 15 to 5. The species is found along the shores of lakes and rivers in meadow habitat and its host plants are the goldenrods, Solidago canadensis and Solidago ohioensis, as well as Lindley's Aster, Symphyotrichum ciliolatum and White Snakeroot, Ageratina altissima. Fieldwork is required to confirm sites within the Great Lakes region.

Common name: Leadplant Flower Moth

Taxonomic group: Arthropods

Scientific name: Schinia lucens

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Canadian Wildlife Service, Manitoba, Parks Canada Agency

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: Leadplant Flower moth (Schinia lucens) depends on its host, leadplant (Amorpha spp.; Fabaceae) in prairie habitat and rarely strays far from host plants. In Canada known historically from Aweme, MB and photographs in 2011 near Stuartburn, MB. Schinia lucens has one generation per year, overwinters underground in the pupal stage and adults are active near hosts in daylight (Hardwick 1996; Swengel and Swengel 2006). The host Leadplant requires native prairie and occurs from northwestern Ontario, a few sites (A. Harris, pers. comm., Oldham and Brinker 2009), across southern Manitoba and possibly into southern Saskatchewan. In Manitoba, A. canescens is ranked as S3S4. Alternate host plants A. nana (S3S4) and A. fruticosa (S1S2) are mainly confined to southern Manitoba.

Common name: Marbled Godwit

Taxonomic group: Birds

Scientific name: Limosa fedoa

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Manitoba, Ontario, Parks Canada Agency, Saskatchewan

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: The Marbled Godwit is a large shorebird that nests in three disjunct areas; by far the largest population in the grasslands and parklands of the northern Great Plains (~170,000 mature individuals, 60% of which are in Canada), with two small, disjunct nesting populations in Alaska and James Bay (~2,000 mature individuals each). Data from the Breeding Bird Survey for the well-monitored midcontinent population indicate a decline of 42% over the past three generations, with the annual rate of decline accelerating to -4.5% over the past decade. Threats underlying this decline are not well known, although the rapid pace of grassland loss, as well as wetland drainage, are likely key factors. Threats on migration and in overwintering areas include the loss of wetland habitat, collisions with power lines and other infrastructure, human disturbance, contamination (including oil spills), climate-change and sea-level rise.

Common name: Plains Spadefoot

Taxonomic group: Amphibians

Scientific name: Spea bombifrons

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, Canadian Wildlife Service, Manitoba, Parks Canada Agency, Saskatchewan

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: Plains Spadefoot has patchy distribution throughout the dry interior of North America, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Historically, the species was presumably widespread in native grasslands throughout the Canadian prairies. These habitats have experienced up to 77% loss throughout the 20th century, mostly due to conversion to agriculture. Loss of grasslands continues, primarily due to fire suppression and grazing regimes that allow vegetation succession to proceed. The species is vulnerable to prolonged summer droughts because it breeds in shallow pools that are subject to drying, leading to periodic failures to produce surviving young. While the species is adapted to predictably variable arid environments, disruption of climatic patterns, combined with intensive agriculture and road networks that constrain dispersal, is likely to result in population declines.

Common name: Rufous Hummingbird

Taxonomic group: Birds

Scientific name: Selasphorus rufus

Canadian range / known or potential jurisdictions: Alberta, British Columbia, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Yukon Territory

Proposed call for bids date: 2022

Rationale: Rufous Hummingbird remains common throughout its range, with a Canadian population estimate of 12 million mature individuals, comprising 54% of the global total. However, it has experienced a long-term population decline, which has been accelerating recently, with an estimated loss of 31% of the Canadian population between 2009 and 2019. Although causes of the decline remain only partly understood, recent research indicates that pesticides and habitat degradation associated with climate change are increasing threats. As a long-distance migrant, Rufous Hummingbird requires high-quality habitat across multiple areas for breeding, migratory stopovers, and wintering. Consequently, threats are repeatedly encountered over their annual life cycle, increasing their cumulative impact on populations.