British Columbia Specialties
459 species in 46 families
BC Provincial Bird – Stellar’s Jay
- Steller’s jay
- Crested mynah (Vancouver)*See below*
- Spotted towhee
- Red-breasted sapsucker
- Skylark (Victoria)
- Pigeon guillemot
- Northwestern crow
- Mac Gillvray’s warbler
- Rosy finch
- Townsends’s warbler
- Great scaup
- Northern hawk owl
- Varied thrush
- Wilson’s warbler
- Red-naped sapsucker
- Rufous hummingbird
- Brant goose
- Black swift
*An excellent blog post from Lost Magazine written by Wayne Grady – The Extinction of Vancouver’s Crested Mynahs
BC Rare Bird Alert Hotlines
Vancouver (604) 737-3074 – Victoria (250) 704-2555
British Columbia (BC) is Canada’s westernmost province, bordered by the Pacific Ocean. Bounded by the Yukon and Northwest Territories on the north, the panhandle of Alaska forms about half of the western boundary. On the east, B.C. is bordered by Alberta, and to the south the US states of Washington, Idaho and Montana.
Where the Pacific Ocean reaches the continent, it meets a chain of islands running from north to south known as the Inside Passage. This passage extends from the Juan de Fuca Strait at the southern end of Vancouver Island, north to Prince Rupert and up to Alaska. The rugged coastline includes deep, mountainous fjords and about 6,000 islands, many of them uninhabited.
Much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rain forest. This region is one of a mere handful of such temperate rain forest ecosystems in the world.
The BC Interior changes dramatically from north to south. In the extreme northeast a small corner is an extension of the Great Plains. The Cariboo plateau is a series of high plateaus and rolling ranchland, while the southern Okanagan interior is made up of fertile valleys that produce fruits and vegetables. The far south of the province is a small section of arid desert.
Sixty percent of the province is forested, about 5% is arable, and 75% is mountainous. From the Pacific Coast to the arid interior to the high mountain ranges, bird watching in British Columbia offers a myriad of opportunities.
BC Web Links
Where Do You Want To Go Birding in BC?
Vancouver Avian Research Centre
Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Bonjour, looking for pictures, HD quality, for a project that Environment and Climate Change Canada with the Canadian Wildlife Service are doing on Alaksen National Wildlife Area in Delta.
(name of the species, location and owner of the picture)
Any kind of resident waterfowl (ducks/geese) in clutch
Any species of songbird in action or not
Flock of birds in migration
Staging shorebirds
Staging waterfowls
Photo credit will be posted on a long life conservation kiosks in the parking lot of one of the ten National Wildlife Areas that are open to the public under the national initiative – Connecting Canadian to Nature.
My name is Christian and I am the project officier for this project. If interested to collaborate, please contact me at christian.asselin2@canada.ca
It sounds like you might have a leucistic bird. Leucism is a condition where there is a loss of pigmentation resulting in white or pale feathers, and there is often some blotchy black. There are thousands (if not more) white and/or black colour variations of leucistic birds, and they are being reported with increasing frequency. The condition doesn’t hurt the birds, although they stand out more for predators. It also makes them very hard to identify as plumage colour is the first thing a birdwatcher looks at. Your bird may have been a small dove but unless it was hanging around with other birds, leucistic birds can be very hard to identify.
I saw a white bird with black spots all over it, similar to what a Dalmatian would look like. It was about the size of a smaller dove. I can’t find anything similar to it in my western bird books. And just wondering if someone could help me identify it.
The only powder blue birds we have in this country are the mountain bluebirds. They are really on the move right now and show up so clearly against our tan vegetation and rocks.
Yes, they could very likely be bushtits if you’re on the island or in the lower mainland.
I saw a bird out here in the westshore of Victoria on the edge of Colwood and Metchosin. It was the size of a cowbird. Kind of finch shaped. It was a powder blue in colour with a white chest. I never heard it sing so cannot comment on that. It was sitting on a fence post in an open gravel pit area that is soon to be developed.
I just had a flock of very small, brown birds come through my back yard. I was surprised to see them feeding at both the suet AND the hummingbird feeder. They were making the hummingbird feeder rock so that it would drip sugar water. I was thinking that they might be tits?
For the life of me I cannot think of anything that looks like a tufted titmouse in your area. The only grey birds I can think of are chickadees and grey jays (whiskeyjacks), or possibly a stray bushtit from Vancouver Island. None of them have tufts however, unless the wind is blowing their feathers up. Keep me posted if it shows up again!
We are in Williams Lake,BC and had a bird on our patio. The best description I can see is a tufted titmouse but know it shouldn’t be here. Have only seen it once and flew when we tried to get a photo. Grey in color, tuft on back if head. Not a waxwing. Any ideas
If it is a very tiny bird, check ruby-crowned kinglet in your bird book. Their red crest does not always show but they can flash it at will.
We are seeing a small red crested bird that is mostly Grey flit out of yhe trees to catch insects but can’t seem to find it in the books or online. We are on Okanagan lake. Can you help me identify it?
Sure you can send them and we’ll have a look. Just email them to birdcanada@gmail.com and we’ll do our best.
Recently, I have taken some pictures of birds that I can’t identify. Can I send them to you for identification or is there another site that you can recommend?
Actually I think you’re both correct. For the past several years, Anna’s Hummingbirds have been establishing a year-round population on Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. Prior to that, hummingbirds were migrators through the area spring and fall.
Hello there,
I was just wondering, for a very first time I have seen a Hummingbird on our balcony, in the Chilliwack center ,now 3 times in 7 days. My husband who is from BC stated this was not a usual sighting .Could someone please tell me if that is true?
Thank you, Pat – The little birds here are much darker than the pictures I looked at of bushtits – they have regular length tails, and a sweet little one-note chirp. Very social – they sat and looked at the spray of water for awhile, discussed it at length, then one very brave fellow flew through the spray and back up onto the branch. After much chirping to the others, he flew back down and stood under the water; then another tentatively tried it, and they stood together under the spray. After much encouragement, eventually the whole little flock was down on the grass, playing in the water.
I can’t think of any black birds that size, but I’m going to guess you have a flock of Bushtits. They are more greyish/brownish than black, but in the shadows they may look darker. Southern BC is the most northern part of their range, so you can count yourself lucky to have them in your hard!
We have lots of tiny black birds around our house in the Fraser Valley, BC. They are about the size of a hummingbird, but with short bills. They like the worms on our holly bush. I am sure they must have other colours as well, perhaps brown, but have not gotten close enough to see clearly. They have been playing under a little spray of water by our honeysuckle.
The only thing I can think of is to contact a local nature or birdwatching club. They may be able to provide you with statistics of some sort. Great idea!
Hi, just for fun we’ve started an informal poll for a Kitsilano bird.
How could I find out information about which birds were most populous in Kitsilano or better Vancouver’s Westside (Granville to UBC and beach to river)?
the suggested contenders are crow, heron, bluejay, robin, eagle, flicker, seagull, pigeon
just fyi.
Great blue herons are found as far north as Alaska along the coast, and have been reported in Fort St John, Grande Prairie and Wood Buffalo National Park. They are fairly common throughout their range, but still make for a spectacular sighting when you see them in the boreal forest!
My wife and I were kayaking north of Prince George this weekend and came across a Great Blue Heron. then a little further down the river we came across three and a nest. There are the first we’ve seen this far north. Are the common here?
I’m thinking it might be a House Finch, as they are fairly comfortable around people and likely to land on a balcony. You can check them out here http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_finch/id
I live in Victoria BC overlooking water. We are inundated by gulls. I have heard robins but a small bird landed on our balcony and it had a red breast and red on its head, almost in stripes. Reminded me of an English Chaffinch. Can you help.? Many thanks
I don’t know about your swallows, but I noticed the same thing with many birds here in southern Alberta. The lateness of the spring this year has meant they were all in a rush to get to their breeding grounds when they finally got back. Instead of staying around here for a few weeks, most of the migrating birds in my yard stayed only a few days.
Hi The swallows returned to my area ( residential Victoria B.C. ) about a week ago. They stayed about 3 days but seem to have disappeared. The last 2 or 3 years when they arrive they stay for 3 weeks or so before moving on. I am worried about these beautiful birds…any thoughts? Many thanks Diana
Ack! I can’t believe I did that – I know better. My embarrassing boo boo now fixed, thanks to you for pointing it out.
Nice website. One thing: BC’s provincial bird is the Steller’s Jay, named after naturalist Georg Steller, not Stellar, meaning star-like.
Cheers
In that area if they weren’t either of the two species you mention, I would guess either golden eagles or turkey vultures. The vultures have red heads, which makes them easy to ID if you could see them up in the canopy. Good area for golden eagles as well.
I saw two very large birds yesterday in Chekamus Canyon just south of Whistler, and i’m wondering what they might have been, they weren’t Bald Eagles or Osprey.
I was quite close to them when i noticed them in the canopy of the trees, they were a dark brown, and must have been aprox 1.5m wingspan.
Sounds like it might be a northern flicker feather. I have one here that sounds exactly like that, and I know it came from a flicker.
Hello I found some feather while hiking. Can you help identify them. Orange spine. Feather Black on one side and half black half orange on the othe side.8-13 cm long. Thanks you very much. I can send a photo if you like. Scott
Sorry but I don’t think I can help. It might be a juvenile robin, as they come in a variety of speckled plumages, but without a photo or more details, I can’t really say.
Can you id a bird about the size of a robin(a little smaller). Orange breast, white speckles on wings and some white tail feathers.
Thanks. Gary
I’m going to take a guess that you’re talking about tree swallows. These birds are efficient insect eaters, and capture them out of the air during a diving, swooping, turning flight. If you can see them when they’re sitting still, they look like your description. Check http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tree_Swallow/id to see if that’s what you have. If that’s not your bird, just let me know.
Hi,
I live a few hours north of Campbell River on Vancouver Island and I have a flock of about 16 or so birds flying around my house every spring. I’ve looked on every bird website I could find, but I still don’t know what they are.
The birds are small, black with white bellies with a bluish sheen on their feathers. I thought they were sparrows at first but some books proved me wrong. Can you help?
Thanks Pat – I’m looking forward to it! We’ve been really lucky in the past with how many birds we do get in the yard. My usual feathered friends to the feeder include White & Red breasted nuthatches, Hairy & downey woodpeckers, Boreal & black capped chickadees, purple finches, junco’s, red wing blackbirds and of course Evening, Pine & rose breasted grosbeaks. Other visitors to the yard include Robins, Pileated woodpecker, Western Tanagers, hummingbirds and spruce grouse. We’re not that far north from GP – on the long / lat scale, we’re actually further south than Fairview.
Well, that’s really interesting. I’m from Grande Prairie, and I had no idea these doves had made it that far north. I did a post on that species last year you can read at https://birdcanada.com/2010/03/wednesday-wings-eurasian-collared-doves/ – I guess they really cover the continent now. If you have one dove, you should have more in the next year or so!
We’re located on the Alaska Hwy about 20 miles from Dawson Creek, BC. We had the most wonderful visitor today – an Eurasian Collared Dove. I’ve never seen one this far north before, is it becoming a more common thing or did this little guy just take a wrong turn?
Sorry Steve, I don’t know anything about hummingbird moths, other than the fact they are very impressive insects!
Thanks Pat. He seems to be living on the property, so no need to try and keep him around. Do you know anything about Humming Moths? I saw one the other day and I am reading that they’re not usually from this area. We are in the West Kootenays of British Columbia, in Kaslo.
Sorry I have no idea what these might have been. Hummingbirds are the only ones that can hover for any length of time, but many species can hover for a few seconds. Hummers don’t travel in groups either. If anyone reading the blog has an idea of what these might have been, please leave a comment!
Pileated woodpeckers are always a thrilling sight. They’re year round residents in forests with large trees, and not uncommon in the right habitat. They’re insect eaters though, eating primarily carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae they dig out of the bark. Not a feeder bird, but Canada’s largest woodpecker is always a wonderful visitor!
Just spent ten minutes watching a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker!!! They’re beautiful, I don’t know how rare they are, but that’s the first I’ve seen. It was right on our property at Wing Creek just north of Kaslo, BC. How common are they in this area? Is this the kind of bird I would like to feed or can they be destructive?
Hi
Today we saw some bird probably more than a dozen who hovered. The were too small to be house sparrows and seemed bigger than hummingbirds. They were in leafy trees by the water on Malcolm Island off North Vancouver Island. We couldn’t see their beaks. Very quick as they moved about. We do have hummingbirds here but I didn’t think that they traveled in groups. Any ideas about small hovering birds?
I imagine they were Sandhill Cranes. They migrate this time of year and are usually found in large flocks. Sandhills are brownish/greyish birds about 45″ high. It wouldn’t be unusual to see them in that area. Cool sighting though! See http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory for more information and some pictures.
Hello;
We were driving down from Prince George 2 days ago and in a field just North of Williams Lake there was a flock of Canada Geese, but along with the geese there were about 30 tall ‘heron like’ birds. We have lots of Great Blue Herons on Vancouver Island but I didn’t think they migrated in flocks and these birds looked taller but stood very upright like herons. I wish we had stopped to take a picture because I have been unable to identify the birds from any books or websites. Any ideas?
Although I don’t know for sure, I would guess that your bird is actually a house sparrow. They can hover for short periods, and have been seen doing just that to pick insects off window edges.
Hello there, I was wondering if you can identify a bird for me. It is sparrow sized and can hover in mid air like a hummingbird. What it ate was spiders outside my window at my workplace.
Can you help identify please?
Thanks Brent
I have changed the RBA phone number on my Birding BC page to your new one – thanks for letting me know!
VNHS has transferred the RBA to a new voicemail system. The new number is 250-704-2555, and is active now. As of February 1, the old number will be a thing of the past. Please update your speed dial numbers, directories, web pages and address books!
Ann Nightingale
Victoria, BC