Bald Eagle
Haliateetus leucophalus
Description: A large dark brown to blackish eagle with a distinct white head and tail and a heavy yellow bill. Young resemble the Golden Eagle because they lack the white head but they have the large heavy yellow bill.
Ecology: lives near lakes, rivers, marshes and seacoasts; also found near garbage dumps where they scavenge for food. Nests in a massive twig nest in tall trees or sometimes in a cliff.
Notes: Was a widespread species throughout North America though now much more restricted to its northern, Canadian, end of its range. This is the "symbol" of American freedom yet in many states the eagle was pushed to the brink of extinction. Recovery efforts have seen a growth in its population in recent years. This eagle was sitting above Chapman Creek one snowy day in November of 2006. He was quite accustomed to people as he watched me photograph him from the other side fo the creek about 30 feet away.
Glaucus Winged Gull
Larus glaucescens
Description: A large billed, pink-legged gull of about 66cm. A light grey gull with grey wing tips.
Ecology: Common on the BC coast and can be found on sea shores, marine habitats.
Notes: There is no true “Sea Gull” but they are all often referred to as this, and there are many very similar species that can often interbreed and can be difficult to distinguish at times. In general however the Western Gull is a dark-backed pink legged gull found more from Oregon south, while the Glaucus Winged Gull is lighter grey and is very common on the BC Coast. The even lighter and more rare Glaucus Gull has white wing tips. This bird was sitting in the local duck marsh feeding off the bread scraps people brought for the duck. The gull is a common scavenger in our area, often found eating garbage left behind by humans, swallowing everything it finds whole to prevent the other birds from getting it.
Stellar's Jay
Cyanocitta stelleri
Description: A very pretty blue jay with a blackish crest that it raises when agitated, size is about 30cm in length. Has a rather loud and crow-like call that doesn’t seem to suit its beauty but is intriguing nonetheless.
Ecology: Found year round on coniferous forest slopes, a frequent visitor of bird feeders who doesn’t seem to mind people. Range is from Alaska south.
Notes: This bird is common here on the coast in both forests and near people, it often frequents campsites and backyard bird feeders in search of food but is equally at home in its native forest habitat. This one was feeding off some chips dropped on the ground by my children in a campsite at Richardson Lake, coast mountains, BC in July 2006.
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
Description: Most people will easily recognize this familiar spring arrival from their lawns and gardens. It is a medium sized bird with a grey back, a red breast and a white throat with streaks. Females are slightly smaller with a lighter red to orange-red breast, juveniles have a spotted breast.
Ecology: Seen year-round but winter residents are northern birds feeding on winter seeds and berries, summer residents, many of whom live in close proximity to people, return every spring from the south. Bird has a beautiful cheery song that is often seen as a sign that spring is here.
Notes: This egg shell was found on the forest floor of a mixed deciduous and coniferous forest at Chapman Creek, BC. Empty robin’s eggs are a common site on the forest floor and their nests are often found in tall shrubs or small trees.
Mallard Duck
Anas platyrhynchos
Description: Males have characteristic iridescent green head and chestnut breast, females are mottled brown but have a distinctive orange and black bill, a white edge on their tail and a white bordered blue wing patch seen when in flight. Grows to about 65cm.
Ecology: Common year round, especially in winter on the coast as inland birds move to the coast for the milder winters. These are the most common of the puddle ducks which are able to take off into flight straight off the water out of the smallest bodies of water. Generally found on fresh water but occasionally seen on salt water.
Notes: Mallard Ducks are common in duck ponds in our area where people often feed them all year round. The mating pair were found on Klein Lake in March of 2006, and the momma with her young were from the roadside duckpond just a couple blocks from my house in Sechelt, the ducklings were perhaps a week old at most, June 5, 2006 photo.
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
Description: Large (about 115cm) bird with a long s-shaped neck, blue grey outer feathers, and a plume of black feathers above and behind the eye.
Ecology: Year round residents in our area, in colder inland areas they will head to the coast if their wetlands freeze up. They feed on fish, crabs and frogs, as well as mice in fields in the winter.
Notes: Cannot be confused with other species in our area, unmistakable due to size, blue-grey colour and black plume of feathers on the head. This one was found sitting on an old snag at the edge of Carlson Lake at middle elevation, July 2006 photo.
Ruffed Grouse
Bonasa umbellus
Description: Ground dwelling birds about the size of a small chicken. Male and female birds have mottled brown camouflage pattern and a crested head. Male sometimes fans its tail showing dark bands and can also extend black ruffs on the side of his neck when displaying, also produces a very deep drumming beat that you can feel as well as you can hear it.
Ecology: Year round residents in mixed forests from sea level to 2000m.
Notes: This female waited on the road until she was sure we were not a threat before she called her 4-5 chicks to cross the road with her. It was in Dakota bowl (middle elevation) in July 2006.
Blue Grouse
Dendragapus obscurus
Description: Large (52cm) grouse, males are charcoal in colour with a pale grey band on their tails and a yellow-orange comb above the eye. Female looks similar to a Ruffed Grouse but it has a dark tail that is tipped with grey, and is a larger size.
Ecology: Year round residents of coastal BC, found from sea level to subalpine areas. May even winter at high elevation where they feed on conifer needles.
Notes: Used to be a common food source by natives and early settlers. The birds are often too confident in their camouflage, allowing humans to get too close to them. They used to be much more abundant on the Sunshine Coast a few decades ago, after a long decline they seem to be making somewhat of a comeback. This one was found on the edge of a logging road at low elevation, May 2006 photo.
Canada Geese
Branta canadensis
Description: Large (65-110cm) bird with a long neck, black head, broad white chin strap and a brown body. Size varies with location, they mate for life and always return to their birth place, preventing intermingling of birds from other areas during the breeding season resulting in different sizes of birds in distinct populations.
Ecology: Found in fresh and salt water, and are found all year round on the coast, especially in winter when inland birds head to the warmer coast and mingle with the coastal populations until breeding season in the spring when they head home.
Notes: A very common bird in our area due in large part to an expanded habitat due to the presence of parks, school fields, and gold courses which they love to graze on. In areas like this where they thrive in human habitats they can become quite tame and unafraid of people. These ones live and breed in a developed area in Porpoise Bay where they commonly frequent a local lawn and pond and raise their young nearby. May 2006 photo.
Common Goldeneye Duck
Bucephala clangula
Description: Males have a round white spot on their dark greenish cheeks and all white flanks, brown headed females are harder to identify but look for a sloping forehead and a dark bill. Grows to about 46cm.
Ecology: Nest in tree holes, typically at inland lakes surrounded by cottonwoods and aspens, occasionally breed near the coast.
Notes: Distinguished from Barrow’s Godleneye by Barrow’s male’s crescent moon shaped white patch and white finger like stripes on their black flanks, and the females with their steeper foreheads and typically yellowish bills. This pair was seen in Carlson Lake at middle elevation on the Sunshine Coast, BC, July 2006 photo.
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
Description: : Smallish bird (25cm), a ring-necked plover easily identified by its two distinct neck bands and its distinct call (kill-dee!).
Ecology: Common at sea shore as well as inland on golf courses, fields, farms, etc. They lay their pebble coloured eggs right in the open on the ground and will often try to lure you away from their nest by pretending to have a broken wing. Year round residents in coastal BC.
Notes: Semipalmated Plovers are very similar but have a single neck band, are slightly smaller and are more restricted to the coast, they are also migratory being seen in coastal BC in April and May, then again in July and August. This one was sitting on a beach in Porpoise Bay, Sechelt Inlet, BC, I took this photo from my kayak, August 2006.
Rock Dove
Columba livia
Description: Rock doves are the feral version of the domestic pigeon introduced from Europe. They are a small bird found mostly in a greyish colour, often with irredescent greenish neck bands and black bands on their wings but are also found in white, black, brown, or some combination of colours.
Ecology: Common in settled areas and parks throughout our region and stay year round in metropolitan areas.
Notes: These ones are residents in the local duck marsh in Sechelt were there is a large healthy population, feeding off scraps of bread left by people for the ducks.
Northwestern Crow
Corvus caurinus
Description: 40-45cm all black bird with a sharp black bill and black feet.
Ecology: Common year round coastal resident from Washington to Alaska and inland to Hope, BC. Feed often at low tide on beaches, also commonly found invading nests of other birds, and dumpster diving – scavenging on human garbage.
Notes: Distinguished from the all black raven by its smaller size, squared off (rather than spade shaped) tails, sharper bill and lack of a ruffle of breast feathers on the raven known as a goiter patch. Intelligent birds known to stash food for later, and known to drop mollusks on pavement and allowing cars to drive over them so that they can open them up to get at the tasty morsels inside.
Hairy Woodpecker
Picoides villosus
Description: black and white birds with a white back, males have a red patch on the back of their head. Feet have two toes pointing forwards and two backwards to help them cling to trees in a vertical position. 22-25cm in size.
Ecology: Nesting pairs typically remain in their territory all year round, excavating a new nesting site in an old snag each year, providing critical habitat for owls and other birds that will inhabit their abandoned nesting sites from previous years.
Notes: distinguished from the Downy Woodpecker by its larger size, larger head and larger beak, and downy woodpeckers typically have more downy feathers around their beaks especially. This one was living at a campsite in Haywire Bay on the edge of Powell Lake in Powell River, BC, this poor resolution photo was from my old camera in the summer of 2005.
Chestnut Backed Chickadee
Parus rufescens
Description: Small bird with a dark cap and a chestnut coloured back.
Ecology: Found in coniferous forests throughout our area, and it is the only chickadee on Vancouver Island where it is found in all tree habitats.
Notes: This little guy hit our window where he was rescued from the cats by my son who put him in a box with some moss and branches until he rested enough that he was able to fly again, when he tried to fly my son brought him outside and we watched him fly up into the alders and then away. We live on the edge of a mixed forested park. April 2006 photo of bird on my living room floor while my son set up a temporary home for him.
Black Capped Chickadee
Parus atricapillus
Description: Small bird with a black cap and bib and a grey body.
Ecology: Common in deciduous and mixed forests.
Notes: Differentiated from the similar Mountain Chickadee easily by its range, the Mountain Chickadee is a resident of inland coniferous forests and is very rarely found on the coast, it also has a distinctive white eyebrow. This one was found at the edge of Carlson Lake at middle elevation, July 2006.
Turkey Vulture
Cathartes aura
Description: An interesting looking bird growing to about 70cm. Large black bodies have a smallish bald head that is red in mature adults and grey in young birds. In flight they have characteristic two-toned wings that are dark on the wing line itself with pale grey flight feathers, they spend much of their flight time riding thermals in a wobbly flight pattern.
Ecology: Migratory birds found April to September in our area from about the tip of Vancouver Island southwards. They spend winters in California and Mexico.
Notes: Not commonly seen on land except when scavenging carcasses. This one was found on a logging road near Homesite Creek, September 2006 photo.
Varied Thrush
Ixoreus naevius
Description: Similar in size to a robin (about 25cm) but with orange bands on its wings, and orange above the eye patch and a dark band across its breast.
Ecology: These are a common bird in our area that typically inhabit deep coniferous forests, but they also seem to have no problems inhabiting human settled areas in the winter, which gives them their sometimes local name "Winter Robin". When Spring comes though they typically head for their home in the woods, some following the retreating snowline North or others head vertically up into the mountains.
Notes: This one was photographed off my front porch in a cherry tree at my home in Sechelt, BC, Feb 2007 photo.
Common Nighthawk
i
Description:
Ecology:
Notes:
This page was last updated on: May 8, 2007
The funds needed for this site & for the collection of information & pictures
for this site was supplied by:
Birds
In Wilderness is the preservation of the World. - Henry David Thoreau
Selected pictures are now available in: 1x2 5/8" Stick on Gift Tags - set of 30 $3.99, 2x3 5/8" Blank/Holiday Note Cards set of 4 $3.99, 5 1/2x 4 1/4" Gift Cards with envelope $2.99 available in Blank/Holiday or custom, 8 1/2"x5 1/2" Gift Cards with envelope $3.99 available in Blank/Holiday or custom. See Gift Cards and Prints page for more information. 100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
100% of all proceeds are used to support Biodiversity research in BC.
