3 min read.

By Jody Allair, Director of Communications

One of the real joys of working at an organization like Birds Canada are the amazing staff. My co-workers are all incredibly knowledgeable and motivated to help make a better future for birds and people. Pete Davidson, Birds Canada’s Vice-President of Science and Monitoring, is no exception.

Pete is celebrating his 20th anniversary this month at Birds Canada. A perfect opportunity to take some time to get to know this amazing human being a little bit more.

Pete has been a birder since the age of six, when a rural upbringing in south-east England inspired him to join the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Young Ornithologists Club. A self-described birding bum, Pete’s intense passion for birding and bird conservation (followed only by his devotion to Liverpool FC) has led him to work and travel to the Middle East and Asia, which included conducting field surveys for BirdLife International and the Ornithological Society of the Middle East.

In the mid-90s Pete took up a post as a biologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Lao PDR, which began a nine-year sojourn in Indochina, evenly split between Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

Much of Pete’s time was spent conducting bird, mammal and habitat inventories (terrestrial and marine), conservation priority-setting, and designing research and monitoring programs. Pete received a M.Sc. from the University of East Anglia’s Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, conducting a study of the globally threatened Bengal Florican and its relationship with a traditional agro-ecosystem in the Tonle Sap floodplain (South-east Asia’s largest lake), in Cambodia.

Pete’s journey with Birds Canada began in October 2005 where he managed the BC Coastal Waterbird and Beached Bird Surveys, and provided regional support for a number of Birds Canada’s national programs. From 2007-2015 Pete was the Program and Publication Manager for the first ever BC Breeding Bird Atlas. After the atlas wrapped up, Pete spent the next ten years working as an advisor for Birds Canada based out of Arusha, Tanzania with his wife Julie and son Bram.

Over the past few years Pete has been a true ambassador for Birds Canada—particularly with our collaborative international work focused mainly on the Motus Wildlife Tracking System. He has also been a huge advocate for indigenous reconciliation.

Pete is now Birds Canada’s Vice-President of Science and Monitoring and he and his family have recently moved back to Canada and are living on Salt Spring Island in BC. In this new role Pete seamlessly connects to all facets of the organization and turns this insight into a thoughtful and strategic vision for the future.

As I type all of this I am still absolutely blown away by all the incredible projects Pete has worked on over the years and all the amazing places that he has lived. But this doesn’t quite tell the whole story of his impact.

Pete is a thoughtful and amazing person and colleague. He has an incredible ability to work with, and genuinely listen to, everyone. He is incredibly focused on bird conservation and often asks the question: “how will this help birds?”.

Photo: Yousif Attia

But Pete also understands that in order to protect birds we need to work with people. An important lesson that he has shared with many of us. I have learned a lot from Pete over the years. His enthusiasm and passion for birding and bird conservation continues to inspire me to help conserve birds in my own way.

Pete means so much to this organization and we are so incredibly lucky to have him. Through his knowledge, insight and leadership, he has helped shape what Birds Canada now represents – Canada’s Voice for Birds. Thank you Pete for all you do.

I hope you will join me in celebrating Pete Davidson’s 20th anniversary at Birds Canada.

The author with Pete Davidson minutes after Pete helped find Jody’s lifer Sooty Grouse out on Salt Spring Island in BC. Photo: Jody Allair