Wildlife

Discovery wildlife: A vagrant bird far from home and tracking whale movements

As climate change intensifies extreme events, new research reveals how animals are adapting — plus insights from meteorite impact craters and more

Jan 09, 2026
501 words
3 minutes

By Thomas Lundy

3,500km

That’s how far north one crested caracara was outside its usual range when it was spotted in Foleyet, Ont., in September. Common in Central and South America, the bird is rarely seen north of the southern United States — and created quite the buzz among birdwatchers. Some travelled from as far as Toronto, a nine-hour drive, to check the crested caracara off their “life list.” The bird, likely a “vagrant,” was spotted feeding on dead animals at the town’s dump and may have been pushed out of its range by a hurricane or other major storm.

Life from meteorites

Meteorite impact craters could teach us how life on Earth may have begun, according to new findings from an international team of scientists. The 78-million-year-old Lappajärvi impact crater in Finland provides evidence that the “warm, wet, habitable environment” created by the crater allowed for microbial colonization to begin a few million years later. “It truly connects the dots for establishing life on Earth for the first time,” says Gordon Osinski, an Earth sciences professor at Western University.

Follow the food

As changing oceans shift where endangered North Atlantic right whales congregate, the traditional management approach of limiting net fishing and ship speed in “known” whale zones might not be so effective. Instead, the key to conserving these marine mammals could be to track the movement of their tiny zooplankton prey. Scientists in New England are using statistical algorithms and historical data to model what they call a “pretty comprehensive image of where prey might be in the Northwest Atlantic.” By doing so, “we have a better shot of accurately predicting where [right whales] might show up,” says researcher Camille Ross.

“A generation of recovery”

Moving up to 100 kilometres per hour and carrying hundreds of tonnes of snow and rock, avalanches are extreme in nature. So too is their impact on mountain goat populations, according to recent research from the universities of Victoria and Alaska Southeast. “In a single season, avalanches can elicit population declines that require more than a generation of recovery,” says wildlife ecologist and lead author Kevin White. For mountain goats, a high-elevation existence comes with trade-offs — steep mountainsides give respite from predators but come with the risk of avalanches. As climate change makes extreme events increasingly likely, this trade-off may no longer be so favourable.

(Photo: Albert Michaud/Can Geo Photo Club)

Deep concerns

The port of Churchill on Hudson Bay is North America’s only deepwater port with both Arctic Ocean and railway access. Now, it could be set for an expansion. But what does that mean for the region’s beluga? Locals and experts fear the increased ship noise could drive away the beluga, which are a source of culture and food for Inuit, Cree and Dene in the area, and also a driver of tourism. “It’s not just noise at the port — there’s going to be noise all around the shipping lane,” says Fisheries and Oceans Canada research scientist Marianne Marcoux. “That’s concerning.”

Help us tell Canada’s story

You can support Canadian Geographic in 3 ways:

Donate Subscribe Shop

canadian wildlife

This story is from the January/February 2026 Issue

Look Inside Subscribe

Punctuation’s mark: Can we save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale?

After a series of mass deaths in recent years, what can we do?

4110 words
17 minutes

Wildlife

The accidentals: Mapping the bird “vagrants” that found themselves far from home

How data is helping us understand why these birds are being found outside of their geographical range

689 words
3 minutes

Science & Tech

Out of our depth: speaking with whales

An ambitious project seeks to use artificial intelligence to speak with sperm whales. But is this even possible? What would we say — and would they want to speak with us?

3078 words
13 minutes

A man stands at the edge of a lake during sunset

People & Culture

The biggest year in Canadian birds

A tale of joy and persistence: Logging Bruce Di Labio’s birding “big years” almost 50 years apart

4123 words
17 minutes