Birds in Canada
Our list for Canada has 266 bird species recorded regularly there: 58 residents, 115 summer visitors, 57 winter visitors, 33 passage migrants and 3 scarce visitors
The list comes from 103 million birdwatchers' records from 2019–2024, shared through the eBird Observation Dataset on GBIF. A bird is listed when it was recorded in at least 3 of the 6 years and has a Birdfact species guide, so more species occur here than are listed; the months show when it is recorded most years.
- Species on our list
- 266
- In October
- 202
- Common
- 74
- Busiest month
- May
This month: October
GBIF · OctMost likely
Arriving now
American Tree SparrowWinter visitorSep 0.02% → Oct 0.40%
Long-tailed DuckWinter visitorSep 0.01% → Oct 0.13%
Snow BuntingWinter visitorSep 0.00% → Oct 0.13%
Tundra SwanWinter visitorSep 0.01% → Oct 0.11%
Rough-legged HawkWinter visitorSep 0.01% → Oct 0.11%
Common RedpollWinter visitorSep 0.01% → Oct 0.11%
Share of all bird records in Canada in October, 2019–2024. “Arriving now” are the birds whose share rises most from last month. Each month links to that month’s page.
Near you this week
The birds most likely around your town or postcode right now, from the same records, for a square about 9 km across.
The bird calendar for Canada
Month by monthWhen each bird is around, through the year. The darker the square, the closer that month is to the bird’s busiest. Filter by summer or winter visitors to see the seasons turn over.
| Bird | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Crow | ||||||||||||
| American Robin | ||||||||||||
| Song Sparrow | ||||||||||||
| Canada Goose | ||||||||||||
| Mallard | ||||||||||||
| Blue Jay | ||||||||||||
| Red-winged Blackbird | ||||||||||||
| Common Starling | ||||||||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | ||||||||||||
| Ring-billed Gull | ||||||||||||
| Mourning Dove | ||||||||||||
| Northern Cardinal | ||||||||||||
| Northern Flicker | ||||||||||||
| Common Raven | ||||||||||||
| Common Grackle | ||||||||||||
| House Sparrow | ||||||||||||
| White-breasted Nuthatch | ||||||||||||
| Hairy Woodpecker | ||||||||||||
| American Herring Gull | ||||||||||||
| Rock Dove | ||||||||||||
| House Finch | ||||||||||||
| Great Blue Heron | ||||||||||||
| Bald Eagle | ||||||||||||
| Yellow-rumped Warbler | ||||||||||||
| Chipping Sparrow | ||||||||||||
| Turkey Vulture | ||||||||||||
| Northern Yellow Warbler | ||||||||||||
| Cedar Waxwing | ||||||||||||
| Common Yellowthroat | ||||||||||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
The year in Canada
Records by month| January | 4,611,619 |
|---|---|
| February | 4,076,494 |
| March | 6,270,222 |
| April | 12,194,457 |
| May | 22,872,761 |
| June | 11,756,056 |
| July | 8,115,184 |
| August | 8,038,519 |
| September | 8,477,492 |
| October | 7,215,195 |
| November | 4,646,206 |
| December | 4,589,014 |
May has the most records (23 million). Records follow birdwatchers as well as birds: a busy month means more people out looking, as well as more birds passing through.
By family
12 of 32- Ducks, Geese & Swans36
- Sandpipers & Snipes31
- New World Warblers19
- Gulls & Terns18
- Woodpeckers14
- Owls12
- New World Sparrows10
- Thrushes10
- Plovers & Lapwings8
- Tyrant Flycatchers8
- Finches7
- Hawks & Eagles7
All 32 families in Canada
- Herons & Egrets7
- Pheasants & Grouse7
- Cardinals & Grosbeaks5
- New World Blackbirds5
- Auks & Puffins4
- Crows & Jays4
- Grebes4
- Petrels & Shearwaters4
- Pigeons & Doves4
- Skuas & Jaegers4
- Loons & Divers3
- Swallows & Martins3
- Falcons2
- Larks2
- Longspurs & Snow Buntings2
- Mockingbirds & Thrashers2
- Old World Sparrows2
- Vireos2
- Waxwings2
- Wrens2
How common
Places in Canada
All 266 birds, A to Z
- Acorn Woodpecker
- Alder Flycatcher
- American Avocet
- American Bittern
- American Black Duck
- American Crow
- American Golden-Plover
- American Herring Gull
- American Redstart
- American Robin
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- American Tree Sparrow
- Arctic Jaeger
- Arctic Tern
- Atlantic Puffin
- Baird's Sandpiper
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Bar-tailed Godwit
- Barn Swallow
- Barnacle Goose
- Barred Owl
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Black Guillemot
Show all 266 birds
- Black Tern
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Black-headed Gull
- Black-necked Grebe
- Black-tailed Godwit
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Blue Jay
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Bobolink
- Bohemian Waxwing
- Bonaparte's Gull
- Boreal Owl
- Brambling
- Brent Goose
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Burrowing Owl
- Cackling Goose
- Canada Goose
- Cape May Warbler
- Cattle Egret
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Chipping Sparrow
- Chukar
- Cinnamon Teal
- Clay-colored Sparrow
- Common Grackle
- Common Gull
- Common Loon
- Common Merganser
- Common Pheasant
- Common Raven
- Common Redpoll
- Common Starling
- Common Tern
- Common Yellowthroat
- Curlew Sandpiper
- Dickcissel
- Downy Woodpecker
- Dunlin
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Screech-owl
- Eider
- Eurasian Collared Dove
- Eurasian Skylark
- Eurasian Teal
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow
- Eurasian Wigeon
- European Goldfinch
- Evening Grosbeak
- Fieldfare
- Fish Crow
- Flammulated Owl
- Forster's Tern
- Fox Sparrow
- Franklin's Gull
- Fulmar
- Gadwall
- Glaucous Gull
- Glossy Ibis
- Golden Eagle
- Golden Plover
- Goldeneye
- Gray Catbird
- Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Cormorant
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Great Horned Owl
- Great Shearwater
- Great Skua
- Great White Egret
- Greater Scaup
- Greater White-fronted Goose
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Grey Heron
- Grey Partridge
- Grey Phalarope
- Grey Plover
- Greylag Goose
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hermit Thrush
- Hooded Merganser
- Horned Grebe
- Horned Lark
- House Finch
- House Sparrow
- Hudsonian Godwit
- Iceland Gull
- Indian Peafowl
- King Eider
- Kittiwake
- Lapland Longspur
- Lark Sparrow
- Leach's Storm-petrel
- Least Flycatcher
- Least Sandpiper
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Lewis's Woodpecker
- Lincoln's Sparrow
- Little Auk
- Little Egret
- Little Gull
- Long-billed Dowitcher
- Long-eared Owl
- Long-tailed Duck
- Long-tailed Jaeger
- Magnolia Warbler
- Mallard
- Mandarin Duck
- Manx Shearwater
- Marbled Godwit
- Marsh Wren
- Merlin
- Mountain Bluebird
- Mourning Dove
- Mourning Warbler
- Muscovy Duck
- Mute Swan
- Nashville Warbler
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Gannet
- Northern Lapwing
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Pygmy-owl
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Waterthrush
- Northern Yellow Warbler
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Osprey
- Ovenbird
- Pacific Golden-Plover
- Pacific Loon
- Pacific Wren
- Painted Bunting
- Palm Warbler
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Peregrine Falcon
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Pine Siskin
- Pink-footed Goose
- Piping Plover
- Pomarine Jaeger
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Purple Martin
- Purple Sandpiper
- Razorbill
- Red Crossbill
- Red Knot
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Red-breasted Sapsucker
- Red-headed Woodpecker
- Red-naped Sapsucker
- Red-necked Grebe
- Red-necked Phalarope
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-throated Loon
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Redwing
- Ring-billed Gull
- Ringed Plover
- Rock Dove
- Rock Ptarmigan
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Roseate Tern
- Ross's Goose
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Ruddy Duck
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Ruff
- Ruffed Grouse
- Sabine's Gull
- Sand Martin
- Sanderling
- Sandhill Crane
- Say's Phoebe
- Scarlet Tanager
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Semipalmated Plover
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Short-eared Owl
- Snow Bunting
- Snow Goose
- Snowy Owl
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Song Sparrow
- Sooty Shearwater
- Steller's Sea-eagle
- Stilt Sandpiper
- Surf Scoter
- Swainson's Thrush
- Swamp Sparrow
- Tennessee Warbler
- Trumpeter Swan
- Tufted Duck
- Tufted Titmouse
- Tundra Bean Goose
- Tundra Swan
- Turkey Vulture
- Upland Sandpiper
- Varied Thrush
- Veery
- Vesper Sparrow
- Virginia Rail
- Western Kingbird
- Western Meadowlark
- Western Sandpiper
- Western Screech-owl
- Wheatear
- Whimbrel
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-crowned Sparrow
- White-rumped Sandpiper
- White-winged Dove
- Whooper Swan
- Wild Turkey
- Willet
- Williamson's Sapsucker
- Willow Flycatcher
- Wilson's Phalarope
- Wood Duck
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Questions
3How many birds are on Birdfact's list for Canada?
266 species, each recorded regularly in Canada (in at least 3 of the 6 years 2019–2024): 58 residents, 115 summer visitors, 57 winter visitors, 33 passage migrants and 3 scarce visitors. The list includes only birds with a Birdfact species guide, so more species occur in Canada, and rarer vagrants are not listed.
What birds can I see in Canada in October?
202 species on our list for Canada are recorded regularly in October. Of these, the most often recorded are American Crow, Blue Jay, Canada Goose, American Robin and Mallard.
What are the most common birds in Canada?
Of the birds on our list, the ones birdwatchers record most often in Canada are American Crow, American Robin, Canada Goose, Song Sparrow and Downy Woodpecker.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made







