Canada is home to a diverse array of bird species. With its vast landscapes ranging from Arctic tundra to temperate rainforests, Canada provides important breeding and migratory stopover habitat for birds. But exactly how many bird species inhabit Canada? Getting an accurate count is challenging, but estimates range from around 450 to over 600 species. The number fluctuates as species ranges shift and as new species are discovered or split from existing ones. Even definitive checklists do not always agree. But whatever the exact number, Canada hosts a sizeable fraction of the world’s bird diversity.
Counting Birds in Canada
Determining a count of bird species in a region as large and diverse as Canada is complicated. The approach typically used is to compile a checklist of species known to occur in the region based on verified records. Sources for these checklists include published literature, museum specimens, expert observations, and databases of citizen science records. Even then, the true number is elusive. Some species are extremely rare or hard to detect, and may not yet be documented in a region. Others are migrants that only pass through briefly. The count can also shift as taxonomic changes occur – species are reclassified into new families, or split into separate species, or lumped together. And range shifts due to climate change or other factors may bring new species into a region while eliminating others. A bird checklist is thus a snapshot that requires continual updating.
Major Canadian Bird Checklists
Some of the major bird checklists that have tallied species occurring in Canada include:
- The American Birding Association (ABA) Checklist includes 549 species as of 2022 for Canada and the continental United States
- E-bird’s Canada Checklist contains 586 species as of 2022
- The Field Checklist of Birds of Canada published by Environment and Climate Change Canada lists 451 species as of 2021
These checklists have similar numbers of species, but differ in their taxonomic treatment of certain groups. As an example, the ABA checklist treats gray-crowned and pink-footed geese as a single species, while the other lists divide them. So exact numbers differ, but overall the checklists agree on the vast majority of species occurring in Canada.
Factors Influencing the Number of Bird Species in Canada
What accounts for the diversity of birds found in Canada? Several key factors come into play:
Geographic Area
As the world’s second largest country, Canada occupies a vast geographic area spanning over 9 million square kilometers. With ten provinces and three territories, Canada covers most of the northern portion of North America. The sheer extent of habitats across so many latitudes and longitudes supports a wide array of bird species.
Habitat Diversity
Canada’s huge area encompasses extremely diverse habitats, from Pacific kelp forests to prairie grasslands to northern tundra. Different groups of birds are specialized for each of these habitats. Birds like warblers and vireos breed in eastern forests, while shorebirds and waterfowl take advantage of the extensive wetlands, lakes, and coasts. Raptors find homes in the mountains and boreal forests. This mosaic of habitats allows more species to occur than a region with fewer habitat types.
Migration Flyways
Many Canadian bird species are only summer residents, migrating south in winter, while others pass through on their way to more northern breeding grounds. Canada lies on multiple major migration flyways – the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific. These aerial “highways” funnel birds from North America and beyond through Canada on their passages north and south. The flyways facilitate high species diversity, especially during peak spring and fall migration when millions of individuals course through.
Type of Birds Found in Canada
Canada hosts diverse native bird groups characteristic of the northern portions of North America. These include:
Songbirds
The term songbird refers to the order Passeriformes – the perching birds. With over 85 families, this incredibly species-rich group makes up about half the world’s bird diversity. Many familiar backyard birds belong to this order, including sparrows, warblers, thrushes, waxwings, and finches. In total over 300 songbird species have been documented in Canada. Most breed during the summer before migrating to southern wintering grounds.
Waterfowl and Shorebirds
Abundant marshes, lakes, and coastline provide prime habitat for water birds. Canada is home to around 40 species of ducks, geese, and swans. Many breed in the Prairie Pothole region or Arctic. Shorebirds also migrate through in huge numbers to rest and feed at wetlands along flyways. Plovers, sandpipers, snipes, and their relatives make up most of the 60 shorebirds species occurring in Canada.
Birds of Prey
Raptors like eagles, hawks, falcons, ospreys, owls, and vultures are apex predators that thrive across Canada’s forests and open country. They occur on every continent, but diversity increases in the northern latitudes. Canada provides critical breeding habitat for around 37 species including iconic raptors like the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, snowy owl, and gyrfalcon.
Seabirds
Canada possesses immense coastline and marine jurisdiction over three oceans – the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic. This allows a wealth of seabirds to breed and feed in Canadian waters and on coastal cliffs. Familiar seabirds found in Canada include gulls, terns, murres, guillemots, shearwaters, and puffins. About 65 seabird species occur regularly or breed along Canada’s shores.
Other Groups
Beyond the above major groups, Canada has representation from other bird families such as loons, grebes, herons, rails, jays, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, kingfishers, and corvids. Most North American bird groups have Canadian species.
Notable Canadian Species
While Canada hosts members of most bird families, some particular species stand out as special Canadian birds:
Common Loon
This distinctive diving bird with the haunting call breeds on forest lakes across Canada. It is a symbol of wilderness and appears on the Canadian dollar coin.
Canada Goose
Recognizable by its black head and neck, this large waterfowl has a circumpolar Arctic breeding distribution and migrates across Canada in huge flocks.
Snowy Owl
The ghostly snowy owl breeds in the High Arctic tundra but irrupts south periodically in search of food, making it an iconic Canadian winter visitor.
Bald Eagle
The majestic bald eagle with the white head and tail is Canada’s national animal. Populations have rebounded after endangerment from habitat loss and pesticides.
Gray Jay
Known for its friendly nature and intelligence, this fluffy forest songbird is dubbed the “whiskey jack” and occurs year-round across boreal Canada.
Endangered Birds
Most Canadian bird species remain widespread and abundant. However, habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and other factors have caused some once common birds to decline precipitously. According to the IUCN Red List, at least 9 Canadian breeding bird species are endangered or critically endangered, while many more are designated as threatened/near-threatened or declining. Some examples include:
- Eskimo Curlew – Critically Endangered. Once numbered in the millions, may now be extinct. Likely fewer than 50 individuals remain.
- Spotted Owl – Endangered. Restricted to a small area of BC due to old growth forest loss.
- Greater Sage-Grouse – Endangered. Has disappeared across much of its Canadian prairie range.
- Bicknell’s Thrush – Endangered. Vulnerable montane forest breeding habitat is shrinking.
Conservation programs aimed at protecting habitat, reducing threats, and managing sustainable populations seek to return these and other species back from the brink.
Bird Population Estimates
Exact counts of total bird numbers and population trends are not available for most species. However, broad estimates can be made based on available habitat, breeding bird atlases, Christmas Bird Counts, and migration monitoring. According to Partners in Flight, a cooperative bird conservation program, Canada’s landmass likely hosts around 3.2 to 4.6 billion adult breeding birds during spring and summer. The most abundant groups include warblers, sparrows, blackbirds, chickadees, and geese. In winter the total declines to under 2 billion individuals as migrants depart south and northern populations decline. Waterfowl concentrations in migration hotspots can reach into the millions of birds. Ongoing monitoring helps track populations, detect declines, and guide conservation efforts. But determining precise numbers across such a massive region remains difficult. Clearly though, Canada provides critical habitat for billions of breeding and migrating birds each year.
Conclusion
Enumerating the total number of bird species or populations found in Canada’s immense and diverse territory is a challenging endeavor. Estimates vary, but current bird checklists indicate between 450 to 600 species inhabit Canada. This diversity results from a huge geographic area, myriad habitats, and location within multiple bird migration flyways. Iconic northern species like loons, geese, and chickadees share the landscape with songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl, and seabirds. While most species remain abundant, habitat threats have endangered populations of some birds like the Eskimo Curlew. Tallying Canada’s bird diversity will continue as an ongoing effort of ornithological and citizen science monitoring to track this vital natural heritage. But whatever the exact figure, Canada remains a globally crucial habitat for billions of breeding and migrating birds.
