In war and peace, his life was shaped by birds

A childhood passion led ornithology, conservation pioneer J. Bruce Falls to his near-century-long love for nature

- TRACEY TONG

Growing up, J. Bruce Falls's childhood fascination with birds turned into field expeditions in High Park, where the 12-year-old would spend hours taking notes in his bird book. As a teen, he and a friend pedalled their bicycles from Vaughan to Long Point approximately 350 kilometres round trip - to go birding.

It was an auspicious start for the ornithology and conservation pioneer's near-century-long love affair with nature a relationship that led him to co-found the Nature Conservancy of Canada and Birds Canada. Falls died April 27 at age 100.

"In the 1930s, his was an unusual hobby," said Falls' son, Stephen Falls. "He took it to an elite level that I cannot match. Through strategizing and skill, he often saw about 150 species in a 24-hour period for his birdathons, which is about the number I get in a good year."

A professor in the faculty of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto and a recipient of the Order of Canada, Falls "was the foremost leader in conservation and bird studies in Canada of his generation," said John Riley, a former Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) chief science officer, national director of conservation strategies and a friend of Falls for more than 45 years.

Born James Bruce Falls, on Dec. 18, 1923, in Toronto to Orville Mervin Falls, a civil engineer who worked for the Borough of York, and the former Hazel Ina Ranney, a stay-at-home mother, Falls' sister, Barbara was five years his junior.