Most commonly seen birds in Alberta

Written by:
March 14, 2023
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Most commonly seen birds in Alberta

Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Alberta using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Feb 18-Mar 3. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 120 count sites in Alberta. States with less than 10 count sites were not included in rankings for each bird.

Project FeederWatch, a citizen science project where participants collect data on birds at their feeders, was founded in Ontario by Erica Dunn and the Long Point Bird Observatory in 1976. The project partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology after 10 years to scale the project across the U.S. and Canada and now has over 20,000 participants.

The data Project FeederWatch collects is used by scientists to understand trends in bird populations. If you would like to participate as a FeederWatcher you can learn more about the project here.

Read on to see which birds are most commonly seen in your state.

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#29. Ring-necked Pheasant

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 2%
- Average group size: 2.08
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 15%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 12%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 2%
--- #3. Alberta: 2%
--- #3. British Columbia: 2%
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#28. Pine Siskin

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 2%
- Average group size: 3.24
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 12%
--- #2. Quebec: 11%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 11%
--- #4. British Columbia: 9%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
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#27. American Goldfinch

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 2%
- Average group size: 4.41
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 75%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 72%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 70%
--- #4. Newfoundland and Labrador: 69%
--- #5. Ontario: 59%
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#26. Sharp-shinned Hawk

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 1.0
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 14%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 9%
--- #3. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
--- #4. Ontario: 5%
--- #5. British Columbia: 4%
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#25. Common Raven

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 1.42
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 25%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 11%
--- #3. British Columbia: 7%
--- #4. Manitoba: 6%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 5%
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#24. White-throated Sparrow

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 1.51
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 19%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 18%
--- #3. Quebec: 8%
--- #4. Ontario: 5%
--- #4. British Columbia: 5%
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#23. American Tree Sparrow

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 2.69
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Ontario: 27%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 21%
--- #3. Quebec: 20%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 15%
--- #5. Alberta: 3%
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#22. Rock Pigeon

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 3.38
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 26%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 22%
--- #3. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
--- #3. Prince Edward Island: 8%
--- #5. Quebec: 7%
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#21. Clark's Nutcracker

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 3%
- Average group size: 3.76
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 3%
--- #2. British Columbia: 2%
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#20. Ruffed Grouse

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 5%
- Average group size: 1.71
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 8%
--- #1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
--- #3. British Columbia: 5%
--- #3. Alberta: 5%
--- #5. Saskatchewan: 4%
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#19. Bohemian Waxwing

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 5%
- Average group size: 17.97
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
--- #2. Alberta: 5%
--- #3. British Columbia: 3%
--- #4. Saskatchewan: 2%
--- #5. Quebec: 1%
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#18. Pine Grosbeak

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 6%
- Average group size: 3.82
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 19%
--- #2. Saskatchewan: 16%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 12%
--- #4. Quebec: 9%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
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#17. Eurasian Collared-Dove

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 7%
- Average group size: 2.59
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 14%
--- #2. Alberta: 7%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 4%
--- #4. Manitoba: 3%
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#16. Mountain Chickadee

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 7%
- Average group size: 2.66
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 9%
--- #2. Alberta: 7%
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#15. Evening Grosbeak

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 7%
- Average group size: 7.29
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 42%
--- #2. Newfoundland and Labrador: 23%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 23%
--- #4. Saskatchewan: 20%
--- #5. Manitoba: 15%
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#14. Pileated Woodpecker

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 8%
- Average group size: 1.28
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 17%
--- #2. British Columbia: 13%
--- #3. Alberta: 8%
--- #4. Quebec: 6%
--- #4. Ontario: 6%
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#13. Boreal Chickadee

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 8%
- Average group size: 1.63
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 8%
--- #1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 8%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 6%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 2%
--- #5. Manitoba: 1%
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#12. Canada Jay

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 10%
- Average group size: 2.17
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 10%
--- #2. Manitoba: 6%
--- #2. Saskatchewan: 6%
--- #4. British Columbia: 3%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 2%
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#11. White-breasted Nuthatch

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 33%
- Average group size: 1.38
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 71%
--- #2. Manitoba: 63%
--- #2. Ontario: 63%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 55%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 49%
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#10. Dark-eyed Junco

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 33%
- Average group size: 2.98
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 100%
--- #2. British Columbia: 92%
--- #3. Ontario: 72%
--- #4. Prince Edward Island: 67%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 66%
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#9. House Finch

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 35%
- Average group size: 4.68
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 50%
--- #2. Alberta: 35%
--- #3. Ontario: 34%
--- #4. Quebec: 27%
--- #5. Saskatchewan: 22%
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#8. Hairy Woodpecker

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 36%
- Average group size: 1.5
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 68%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 58%
--- #3. Quebec: 55%
--- #4. Saskatchewan: 52%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 45%
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#7. Northern Flicker

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 44%
- Average group size: 1.34
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 60%
--- #2. Alberta: 44%
--- #3. Newfoundland and Labrador: 38%
--- #4. Prince Edward Island: 17%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 15%
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#6. Red-breasted Nuthatch

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 51%
- Average group size: 1.49
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Saskatchewan: 64%
--- #2. Alberta: 51%
--- #3. Manitoba: 44%
--- #3. Ontario: 44%
--- #5. British Columbia: 41%
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#5. House Sparrow

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 57%
- Average group size: 9.37
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Saskatchewan: 68%
--- #2. Alberta: 57%
--- #3. Manitoba: 51%
--- #4. Ontario: 37%
--- #5. Quebec: 29%
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#4. Blue Jay

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 58%
- Average group size: 2.46
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 100%
--- #2. Newfoundland and Labrador: 77%
--- #3. Nova Scotia: 75%
--- #4. Manitoba: 74%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 67%
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#3. Downy Woodpecker

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 68%
- Average group size: 1.56
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 82%
--- #2. Quebec: 74%
--- #3. Ontario: 73%
--- #4. Alberta: 68%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 68%
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#2. Black-billed Magpie

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 72%
- Average group size: 2.18
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 72%
--- #2. Saskatchewan: 44%
--- #3. Manitoba: 24%
--- #4. British Columbia: 11%
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#1. Black-capped Chickadee

- Sites visited Feb 18-Mar 3: 79%
- Average group size: 3.47
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 100%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 95%
--- #3. Manitoba: 94%
--- #4. New Brunswick: 93%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 92%

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