For those hardy birders who want to tackle Canada in the winter, we’ve prepared a list of winter birds in Canada that huddle through our northern climate. As always when dealing with birds, this list is not a definitive one, but is meant to be a rough guide.
Water Birds
- There are now year round resident populations of Canada Geese and Mallards.
- Eider ducks – Common & King
- Scoters – Black, White-winged & Surf
- Ducks – Harlequin & Longtailed
- Goldeneyes – Common & Barrows
- Mergansers – Common & Hooded
- Murres – Common & Thick-billed
- Razorbill
- Guillemots – Black & Pigeon
- Murrelets – Marbled & Ancient
- Auklets – Cassin’s & Rhinocerous
- Puffin, Atlantic
Birds of Prey
- Eagles – Bald & Golden
- Hawks – Sharp-shinned & Merlin,
- Falcons – Peregrine, Gryfalcon & Northern Goshawk
- Owls – Great-horned, Barred, Great Grey, Snowy, Northern Pygmy, Saw-whet, Northern Hawk & Boreal
Game Birds
- Partridge, Grey
- Pheasant, Ring-necked
- Grouse – Ruffed, Spruce, Blue, Sharp-tailed & Sage
- Turkey, Wild
- Ptarmigan – White-tailed, Rock & Willow
- Dove, Rock (Common Pigeon)
Perching Birds
- Woodpeckers – Northern Flicker, Downy, Hairy, Three-toed, Black-backed & Pileated
- Shrike, Northern
- Jays – Blue, Grey, Stellars & Clarke’s Nutcracker
- Magpie, Black-billed
- Raven, Common
- Crow, American
- Lark, Horned
- Chickadees – Black-capped, Mountain, Chestnut-backed, Boreal, Grey-headed
- Creeper, Brown
- Nuthatches – White-breasted, Red-breasted, Pygmy
- Wren, Winter
- Dipper, American
- Kinglet, Golden-crowned
- Thrushes – Varied & American Robin
- Starling, European
- Waxwing – Bohemian & Cedar
- Sparrows – Song, Dark-eyed Junco, Snow Bunting, House
- Cardinal, Northern
- Finches – House, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Common Redpoll, Hoary Redpoll, Red Crossbill, White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak