My Yard List: Why Stop At 100?

Here I was, all excited to get to species number one hundred on my yard list. I keep track of the birds actually in the yard, as well as those seen from the yard, as in flying over (F).

This is a rather bizarre list, as we live in the foothills between the boreal forest and the prairie grasslands, and birds come from both ecozones. We live a block from the Bow River, which swans, cranes and other birds use as a road map during migration.

My yard has conifers, deciduous trees, fruiting shrubs, 11 birdfeeders, and 3 birdbaths. Even with all this, there is absolutely no explanation for the hooded warbler, who should have been in Florida for the 3 autumn months he was here in 2004.

I was so sure I was carefully updating the list as birds appeared so that the numbers were correct. I had even written a one-hundredth-bird-in-the-yard blog post in my head.

Sigh. Meet yard bird #102.

Swainson's Thrush

Apparently I wasn’t as meticulous as I thought. It turns out I forgot to add the white-throated and fox sparrows that showed up last year.

Fox Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

And before I could even get this post written, a least flycatcher hopped onto the yard list at #103, and no, I don’t have a picture of it. Trying to capture a tiny flycatcher with a point-and-shoot camera is my definition of insanity…

So here’s the list as it now stands. With this post written, I’m heading onto the back deck to see if I can add to it!

1. American White Pelican (F)
2. Great Blue Heron (F)
3. Trumpeter Swan (F)
4. Canada Goose (F)
5. American Wigeon (F)
6. Mallard (F)
7. Common Goldeneye (F)
8. Osprey (F)
9. Bald Eagle (F)
10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
11. Swainson’s Hawk (F)
12. Red-tailed Hawk (F)
13. American Kestrel
14. Merlin
15. Peregrine Falcon (F)
16. Prairie Falcon (F)
17. Chukar
18. Sandhill Crane (F)
19. Franklin’s Gull (F)
20. Ring-billed Gull (F)
21. California Gull (F)
22. Rock Pigeon
23. Mourning Dove
24. Budgerigar (yes I know, but it was flying around the neighborhood for months)
25. Great Horned Owl
26. Long-eared Owl
27. Boreal Owl
28. Northern Saw-whet Owl
29. Common Nighthawk (F)
30. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
31. Northern Flicker
32. Downy Woodpecker
33. Hairy Woodpecker
34. Pileated Woodpecker
35. Western Wood-Pewee
36. Willow Flycatcher
37. Least Flycatcher
38. Eastern Phoebe
39. Northern Shrike
40. Gray Jay
41. Blue Jay
42. Black-billed Magpie
43. American Crow
44. Common Raven
45. Tree Swallow
46. Bank Swallow (F)
47. Barn Swallow (F)
48. Black-capped Chickadee
49. Mountain Chickadee
50. Red-breasted Nuthatch
51. White-breasted Nuthatch
52. Brown Creeper
53. House Wren
54. Golden-crowned Kinglet
55. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
56. Veery
57. American Robin
58. Hermit Thrush
59. Swainson’s Thrush
60. Gray Catbird
61. European Starling
62. Bohemian Waxwing
63. Cedar Waxwing
64. Tennessee Warbler
65. Orange-crowned Warbler
66. Yellow Warbler
67. Yellow-rumped Warbler
68. Cape May Warber
69. Blackburnian Warbler
70. MacGillivray’s Warbler
71. Hooded Warbler
72. Ovenbird
73. Wilson’s Warbler
74. Western Tanager
75. American Tree Sparrow
76. Chipping Sparrow
77. Clay-colored Sparrow
78. Fox Sparrow
79. Savannah Sparrow
80. White-throated Sparrow
81. Grasshopper Sparrow
82. Song Sparrow
83. Lincoln’s Sparrow
84. Harris’s Sparrow
85. White-crowned Sparrow
86. Golden-crowned Sparrow
87. Dark-eyed Junco
88. Red-winged Blackbird
89. Yellow-headed Blackbird
90. Rusty Blackbird
91. Brewer’s Blackbird
92. Common Grackle
93. Brown-headed Cowbird
94. Baltimore Oriole
95. Pine Grosbeak
96. Cassin’s Finch
97. House Finch
98. Red Crossbill
99. White-winged Crossbill
100. Common Redpoll
101. Pine Siskin
102. American Goldfinch
103. House Sparrow