Manitoba Specialties
379 species in 41 families
Provincial Bird Great Grey Owl
- Great-grey owl
- Connecticut warbler
- Harris’ sparrow
- Ring-necked pheasant
- Smith’s longspur
- Ross’ gull
- Willet
- Pectoral sandpiper
- Franklin’s gull
- Yellow warbler
- Red-breasted merganser
Manitoba is the easternmost of the the three Prairie Provinces. and borders Saskatchewan on the west, the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south, and Ontario to the east. It is bounded by Nunavut and the Hudson Bay to the north.
In the northernmost portion of Manitoba the land is composed of tundra and permanently frozen subsoil – permafrost. The eastern and northern reaches of the province range through boreal coniferous forests, muskeg and the Canadian Shield. Forests make up about 48% of the province’s 649,950 square kilometres.
Manitoba is a comparatively level, flat land, with elevations rising slowly to the south and west from sea level at Hudson Bay. Most of Manitoba lies between 150 and 300 m above sea level, but in the Turtle, Riding, Duck and Baldy mountains, heights rise to 700 m or higher.
Southwestern Manitoba is flat prairie lands, the north-easternmost extension of the great western plains. Oak Hammock Marsh is the home of Duck Unlimited Canada, and covers an extensive area of active wetlands.
The province has a lengthy coastline along Hudson’s Bay, and over 100,000 lakes. Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis are the two largest lakes in the province.
Manitoba Web Links
Sadly, we have very little information about birds/birding in Manitoba. Have you checked out the Nature Manitoba website? They may be able to point you in the right direction.
I get a blog occasionally about birds from NW Ontario, and love it! But I live in Southern Manitoba (Pembina Hills). I had to eliminate her blog to just birdscanada.com to find this post. Are there any blogs about bird sighting blogs I could belong to about birds in my area? Pembina Hills south of Morden, MB?
I would suggest starting with bird houses for chickadees, house wrens or red-breasted nuthatches. These birds are found across Canada and are very popular, friendly little birds. Plus, wrens are insect eaters and if they nest in your yard they’ll keep your yard free of crawling insects, while rewarding you with their beautiful song every morning.
Winnipeg homeowner, and an avid builder, I like to work with wood and have built an array of lawn furniture. I always wanted to try my hand at bird houses but I’m at a loss to what kind of birds live in my area. I’m in St.James near the perimeter, so I was wondering what type of birds live and ultimately nest in Winnipeg?
Also, do any have nice or friendly temperaments?
Not wanting to attract the wrong type of feathered friend!
You can mail it to birdcanada [at] gmail.com and we’ll take a look.
I am at St Malo and have a very interesting bird visiting my bird bell. I took a picture, however it’s a fair distance away. Would it be possible to send it and maybe you can identify it?
Sorry but we cannot identify this bird without more information. Many species have alarm calls which this sounds like, but we can’t identify them by alarm calls alone.
Hello I’m currently in Manitoba at Riding Mountain National Park in the southern part of Manitoba. I hear a bird that have not yet seen it. It sounds like a bosun’s whistle could you help me to identify this. Okay
Well that’s embarrassing. I’ve been to the DU headquarters in Oak Hammock Marsh myself – proof read, proof read, proof read! Thanks for pointing this out.
May want to consider a page edit: I believe the headquarters for Ducks Unlimited Canada is located at Oak Hammock Marsh, not Delta Marsh.
Thank you for providing a link to a list of Manitoba Winter Birds!
I suspect they would have every bird species in the boreal forest at that location! One of the most common would likely be Black-capped chickadees. Everyone loves these little birds, and there are companies who sell chickadee nest houses, or winter roosting houses online.
Hi, I know nothing about birds but am looking for a bird house to buy my in-laws. They have a cabin by Lee River – Lac Du Bonnet area. I have no idea the most common type birds are around there? All information is appreciated!!
Yes, they look like the Eurasian Collared – thank you!
It is not possible to post to the Bird Canada website unless you are one of the authors. I would be happy to have a look at your photos though if you could email them to birdcanada@gmail.com.
I suspect what you have in your yard are Eurasian Collared Doves. Released in Florida in 1982, these birds have very rapidly colonized North America. They are now being reported in Alaska and the Yukon, as well as every province. Here is a short article about their rapid expansion on the Cornell Birds website – https://www.allaboutbirds.org/tracking-the-invasion-of-eurasian-collared-doves/ and EBird Canada shows many reports of them as far north as Saskatoon and Dauphin.
Send me your photos and we’ll have a look at what you’ve got, and thanks for your email!
This bird is EXACTLY as shown in the Audubon bird books as a Ringneck Turtle Dove. I’m new to this web site… how do I post a pic of it for others to see?… right click is disabled, I see. Binscarth is very near the Sask border, 100 miles north of the US border on #16 Hwy. There are several around town and they make a very dove-like coo coo coo sound like a Mourning Dove.
I have just come to understand that some birds that frequent our yard, and have for many years, are not Mourning Doves, but very rare Ringneck Turtle Doves, known to exist only in Florida and Los Angeles. I have a few good quality pics of them from the kitchen window. Who should I contact; who might be interested? I sent a pic to the American Audubon Soc. but have not heard anything back.
Phlyp Birch
Mine Eng Tech, ret BSc.
Binscarth MB
email birch@mymts.net
Hard to tell without more details, but I will guess you’re in central or southern Manitoba. In that case, if these are small birds they could be snow buntings in the winter, or horned larks in the summer. Flocks of both of these species are common in the Prairie Provinces, and both have white undersides.
Looking for the name of the bird, who has a white underside, seen close to ditches, flys in large flocks, Manitoba area
Those blue birds in Assiniboine Park, especially in the English Garden, are indigo buntings. They have been nesting there reliably for several years now.
You have two choices of blue birds in Manitoba. The south western corner of the province may see Mountain Bluebirds, which are blue all over. The south eastern corner may get Eastern Bluebirds, which are blue on the back and head, with red chests. I would go with Eastern Bluebirds in that location.
I saw some blue birds in Assiniboine Park the other day, but they weren’t bluebirds. How many different birds are blue in Manitoba? These were smaller than a robin. My friend thought they were similar to a wax wing.
Correction on Bald Eagle sighting. Was seen just south of New Bothwell (not Niverville).
January 20th/2015 spotted four Bald Eagles just south of Niverville, Manitoba.
If you give us description of the bird we might be able to help.
I’m located at Amisk Lake in Saskatchewan near Flin Flon Manitoba. Currently -30 degrees outside. I have the usual overwintering birds at the feeder plus one unidentified sparrow like bird. Larger than a boreal chickadee.
Can anybody give me a clue as to what this overwintering bird might be?
My neighbour and I spotted a Robin today at 3:30 Jan. 14, 2014
Was looking through site to attempt to find what bird has nested on the edge of our gravel driveway. Looks as though it may be a Piping Plover. It there another bird in the area ( just east of Winnipeg ) that it could possibly be?
Not sure what you’re asking here, but ptarmigan, grouse and partridge all burrow into the snow to keep warm. If that’s not what you meant just let us know!
Burrowing bird of Manitoba winters?