Birding Factoids

638 species
in 53 families

84 of the 246 species
endemic to
North America are
represented here.
No endemic species.

General Canada

...

Common Loon - Canadian National Bird - Photo by Don Baccus

Photo copyright Don Baccus

....Birding in Canada - also includes checklists for a wide variety of

countries (including Asian, African and European) and regions. See also Canadian Birding Hotlines.

....Bird Studies Canada (BSC) - conducts and promotes

studies of avian distribution, abundance and population changes and their underlying causes; communicates the results to the public; and generates information in support of the conservation of Canadian birds and their habitats.

....Canadian Peregrine Foundation - Peregrine falcons made history in

Ontario in 1995 when two pairs successfully nested and raised young, in Toronto and in Hamilton. Since then, more urban sites have been established throughout Ontario and the rest of Canada. Now more questions are being raised about the long-term survival of the peregrine falcon (anatum subspecies). The Canadian Peregrine Foundation is dedicated to providing whatever means are necessary to continue studying, documenting and protecting this species, not just in Ontario but throughout Canada.

....Western Atlantic Shorebird Alliance - Monitor shore bird migration!

WASA was set up to provide an international forum for all those involved in the study and management of shorebirds on the West Atlantic Flyway. After a meeting of experts from Federal, State and Non-profit organizations in September 1998 it was concluded that the numerous efforts to research and monitor shorebirds and to manage human impact on their habitat should be integrated in a more meaningful way, one that would avoid data duplication and could be used for management purposes.

....Watching Birds in Canada - by Margo Hearne. There's something

very grand about Saskatchewan, from the endless rolling plains to the southern Cypress Hills, vast acres stretch to the horizon. Herds of buffalo and antelope once wandered these exotic prairies. Much of the land is now under the plough, however, the sense of illustrious emptiness remains.

....Neornithes - Living Birds of the World - A Data Bank of the living

and known birds of the world, structured according to the conventional classification system. It enables the retrieval of a wide range of information from the taxonomic hierarchy: Order, Family, Genus, Specie and Subspecie, and makes provision for retrieval other classifications such as common names (English and Italian), geographical distribution of species and subspecies, the taxonomic notes and the european species and the world numbers (w.n.) according to the numerical system used by the American Ornithologist Union.

North American Specialities in Canada

Canada does not have any endemics. The following table identifes birds that cannot
be found outside continental North America and the combination of countries
in which they are found. Information was derived from Sibley & Monroe checklists
in Thayer's Birder's Diary - Version 2.02. Species printed in blue are endangered.

Canada/USA ONLY	Canada/USA/Mexico ONLY
___ Bachman's Sparrow ___ Baird's Sparrow ___ Blue Grouse ___ Bullock's Oriole ___ Carolina Chickadee ___ Chestnut-backed Chickadee ___ Fish Crow ___ Grey-Crowned Rosy-Finch ___ Harris's Sparrow ___ Le Conte's Sparrow ___ Northwestern Crow ___ Pileated Woodpecker ___ Red-Bellied Woodpecker ___ Red-legged Kittiwake ___ Ruffed Grouse ___ Scott's Oriole ___ Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed ___ Sparrow ___ Smith's Longspur ___ Spotted Towhee ___ Spruce Grouse ___ Western Scrub-Jay ___ White-headed Woodpecker ___ White-tailed Ptarmigan	___ Anna's Hummingbird ___ Bendire's Thrasher ___ Bewick's Wren ___ Black Oystercatcher ___ Black-capped Vireo ___ Black-chinned Hummingbird ___ Black-headed Grosbeak ___ Black-throated Sparrow ___ Black-vented Shearwater ___ Brandt's Cormorant ___ Brewer's Sparrow ___ Broad-billed Hummingbird ___ California Gull ___ Calliope Hummingbird ___ Canyon Wren ___ Cassin's Auklet ___ Cassin's Finch ___ Cassin's Sparrow ___ Chestnut-collared Longspur ___ Clark's Grebe ___ Clark's Nutcracker ___ Common Poorwill ___ Cordilleran Flycatcher ___ Costa's Hummingbird ___ Ferruginous Hawk ___ Grey Flycatcher ___ House Finch ___ Lewis's Woodpecker ___ McCowns Longspur ___ Mew Gull	___ Mountain Bluebird ___ Mountain Chickadee ___ Mountain Plover ___ Mountain Quail ___ Nelson's Sharp-Tailed Sparrow ___ Phainopepla ___ Prairie Falcon ___ Pygmy Nuthatch ___ Red-breasted Sapsucker ___ Red-naped Sapsucker ___ Red-Shouldered Hawk ___ Sage Sparrow ___ Sage Thrasher ___ Say's Phoebe ___ Scott's Oriole ___ Seaside Sparrow ___ Sharp-tailed grouse ___ Spotted Owl ___ Timberline Sparrow ___ Townsend's Solitaire ___ Trumpeter Swan ___ Tufted Titmouse ___ Western Bluebird ___ Western Grebe ___ Western Gull ___ Western Screech-Owl ___ Whooping Crane ___ Williamson's Sapsucker ___ Xantus's Hummingbird ___ Xantus's Murrelet
24 Specialities	60 Specialities

Canada's Endangered Species

Breeding Birds	Non-Breeding
___ Eskimo Curlew ___ Kirtland's Warbler ___ Mountain Plover ___ Piping Plover ___ Whooping Crane	___ Spoonbill Sandpiper

Print and Other Resources

on Canadian Birds and Birding

(logos and links take you to on-line locations where you can order/purchase these resources)

AMAZON.COM is the registered trademark of Amazon.com, Inc.

A small portion of your purchase price for any books purchased by following links from this site will go toward supporting the maintenance and development costs of this site.

....Check out Books of a Feather - Which field guide is best for you? By

Robert Winkler for a comparative review of North American Field Guides.

....National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America -

Revised and Updated. Paperback - 464 pages 3rd edition (May, 1999). An update is already available at Chris Moellering's site - Updating The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition. For those of you still using the Second Edition, see also Updating The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Second Edition. This field guide of choice for serious birders combines accurate illustrations with useful maps and text in an easily portable format. Textual information includes notes on identification, behavior, habitat, and song; the illustrations depict individual species in varying plumages. (This is my preferred guide. Although I have several others that are useful for research at home, this one always accompanies me on birding expeditions - Tina).

....The Sibley Guide to Birds - by David Allen Sibley. The beautiful

watercolor illustrations (6,600, covering 810 species in North America) and clear, descriptive text place Sibley and his work squarely in the tradition of John James Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson; more than a birdwatcher and evangelizer, he is one of the foremost bird painters and authorities in the U.S. Descriptive passages on identification are more detailed than those in most other field guides. Slightly larger than the National Geographic guide, it's less portable than most field guides and will likely spend more time in cars and desks than on a birder's person while in the field.

....A Bird-Finding Guide to Canada - by J.C. Finlay. Paperback

(February 2001). Editor J. Cam Findlay has drawn on the expertise of birders from every region of the country to tell you what birds to look for and where to find them across each province and territory, including major cities as well as national, provincial and municiapal parks and, for the very adventurous, the wilderness of the high Arctic.

....A Field Guide to Western Birds : A Completely New Guide to Field

Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico - by Roger Tory Peterson (Illustrator). Paperback - 431 pages (1990). Often called the birdwatcher's "bible," Roger Tory Peterson's Field Guides revolutionized bird identification and started a series of books on everything from Atmosphere to Wildflowers. It is still one of the best tools for bird identification, especially for those just learning how to recognize different birds.

....A Field Guide to the Birds : A Completely New Guide to All the Birds

0f Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides) - by Roger Tory Peterson. Paperback 4th edition (June 1998). The updated volume of the bestselling Peterson Field Guide Series features the unique Peterson Identification System covering all birds of eastern and central North America, shown in full color and described in detail. Summer and winter ranges, breeding grounds, and other special range data are shown on 390 complete, easy-to-read range maps.

....Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guides) -

by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes (Contributor). Paperback (January 1996). Notable for its numerous identification keys including a quick, full-color visual guide to the most common backyard birds, a quick alphabetical index on the inside covers (as well as a complete one within) and a color tab index to bird groups. Superb color photographs include relevant plumage variations.

....Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs : Eastern Region (Three

compact discs and 64-page booklet) - by Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes, Lang Elliott. (May 1997). This guide to bird songs covers over 370 species and comes in cassette and compact disc versions, both retailed at the same price. For some RealAudio samples of ten species soundprints from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, visit Lang Elliott's website and follow the links for the Stokes Guide.1

....Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs : Western Region - by Kevin

Colver, Donald Stokes, Lillian Q. Stokes. (April 1999) This historic collection of 552 species of bird songs and calls contains nearly all bird species likely to be heard in western north America. From Brownsville to Barrow to your own backyard, from ocean waters to desert canyons to arctic tundra, you can now learn the birds you will encounter on nearly any western birding adventure.

....Birds of North America : A Guide to Field Identification by Chandler

S. Robbins, Bertel Bruun, Herbert Spencer Zim (Contributor). Hardcover - 360 pages (November 1983). This is commonly known as the "Golden" Guide. Brief descriptions and illustrations help to identify 650 species of birds in North America, with information on characteristics, range maps, and song patterns. (There are particularly nice sections on comparative head patterns for sparrows and warblers - Tina)

....The Birder's Handbook : A Field Guide to the Natural History of North

American Birds;Including All Species That Regularly Breed North of Mexico - by Darryl Wheye (Contributor), Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin (Contributor). Paperback - 785 pages (June 1988). Compact and yet filled with information, this portable encyclopedia of North American bird behavior is a complement to field guides. Learn more about the species you see in the field, and--when in doubt--use this handy reference as another tool for identification.

....The Visitor's Guide to the Birds of the Rocky Mountain National

Parks: United States and Canada- by Roland H. Wauer, Mimi H. Wolf (Illustrator). Paperback - 420 pages (October 1993).

....Birdfinder : A Birder's Guide to Planning North American Trips

(ABA Birdfinding Guide) - by Jerry A. Cooper, Paul J. Baicich (Editor) Hardcover - 374 pages. Spiral edition (January 1996). A do it yourself guide to birding trips around the country including detailed itineraries. Professionals in the nature tours trade may want to keep this book a secret since it allows anybody to reproduce many of their trips at a significant cost saving.

....Where the Birds Are : A Guide to All 50 States and Canada - by

John Oliver Jones

....Where to go Bird Watching in Canada - by David Stirling