Danger in the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada's Boreal Forest is a new study released by Pembina Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Boreal Songbird Initiative. The authors call on the Alberta government to stop approving projects until conservation and mitigation measures can be put in place.

"At a time when bird populations are rapidly declining, this report puts into perspective the far reaching effects of tar sands oil development," said the report's lead author Jeff Wells, Ph.D. of the Boreal Songbird Initiative. "The public needs to understand the real and long-term ecological costs of this development."

It is estimated half of America's migratory birds nest in the Boreal forest, and each year 22-17 million birds breed in the area slotted for potential development of tar sands oil. The report suggests impacts will increase despite international treaties to protect birds.