Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory is a registered charity with a mandate to monitor, report on and promote analysis of bird migration along PEC South Shore, and to act as official caretaker of the South Shore IBA.

The Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory (PEPtBO) is located in the southeast corner of Prince Edward County. The Observatory is situated on land belonging to the federal government, in the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS).

The Kingston Field Naturalists (KFN) first recognized Long Point as an important staging area for migratory birds in the 1960s.  After some years of both casual and systematic visual studies, the KFN initiated a banding program from 1975 to 1983.  During this period 64,470 birds of 160 species were banded.  Later, Drs. Fred Cooke and Charles Francis, of Queen’s University at Kingston, conducted banding operations there focusing on migratory passerines.

The Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area came into being in the late 1970s when the CWS and KFN cooperated to acquire 560 ha near the tip of Long Point in Prince Edward County. Brian Joyce and Eric Machell founded PEPtBO in 1995, thanks to funding from the James L. Baillie Fund, and through cooperation with the CWS. Preliminary banding and migration monitoring began that spring. Since then, PEPtBO has become one of the most successful permanent banding stations in Canada.

To learn more, check out the Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory Website