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 Nov. 8 to Nov. 21. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 80 count sites in Alberta. Provinces 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 province.
#1. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 88%
- Average group size: 2.27
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 98%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 94%
--- #3. Alberta: 88%
--- #4. Prince Edward Island: 87%
--- #5. Quebec: 82%
#2. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 81%
- Average group size: 3.11
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 100%
--- #2. Prince Edward Island: 93%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 93%
--- #4. Quebec: 92%
--- #5. Manitoba: 91%
#3. Black-billed Magpie
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 76%
- Average group size: 2.26
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 76%
--- #2. Manitoba: 28%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 26%
--- #4. British Columbia: 8%
#4. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 74%
- Average group size: 1.34
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 74%
--- #2. Manitoba: 72%
--- #2. Quebec: 72%
--- #4. Ontario: 65%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 56%
#5. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 66%
- Average group size: 1.54
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 66%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 61%
--- #3. Ontario: 56%
--- #4. British Columbia: 54%
--- #5. Saskatchewan: 52%
#6. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 63%
- Average group size: 10.26
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Saskatchewan: 74%
--- #2. Alberta: 63%
--- #3. Manitoba: 59%
--- #4. Ontario: 33%
--- #5. Quebec: 27%
#7. House Finch
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 54%
- Average group size: 4.29
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 62%
--- #2. Alberta: 54%
--- #3. Ontario: 41%
--- #4. Manitoba: 39%
--- #5. Quebec: 34%
#8. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 54%
- Average group size: 1.3
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 67%
--- #2. Alberta: 54%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 17%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 11%
--- #5. Prince Edward Island: 7%
#9. White-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 38%
- Average group size: 1.3
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 80%
--- #2. Quebec: 69%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 69%
--- #4. Ontario: 59%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 57%
#10. Hairy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 31%
- Average group size: 1.27
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 69%
--- #2. Manitoba: 65%
--- #3. Quebec: 53%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 39%
--- #5. Ontario: 36%
#11. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 23%
- Average group size: 2.19
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 87%
--- #2. Ontario: 86%
--- #3. British Columbia: 84%
--- #4. New Brunswick: 67%
--- #5. Manitoba: 48%
#12. Evening Grosbeak
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 13%
- Average group size: 6.83
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 19%
--- #2. Quebec: 15%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 13%
--- #3. Alberta: 13%
--- #5. Ontario: 12%
#13. Pine Grosbeak
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 13%
- Average group size: 3.51
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Saskatchewan: 22%
--- #2. Alberta: 13%
--- #3. Manitoba: 11%
--- #4. Ontario: 5%
--- #5. Quebec: 3%
#14. Pileated Woodpecker
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 11%
- Average group size: 1.1
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 13%
--- #1. British Columbia: 13%
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 13%
--- #4. Alberta: 11%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 8%
#15. American Robin
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 9%
- Average group size: 1.1
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 20%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 19%
--- #3. Nova Scotia: 15%
--- #3. Ontario: 15%
--- #5. Quebec: 14%
#16. European Starling
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 8%
- Average group size: 2.74
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 33%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 24%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 19%
--- #4. Ontario: 16%
--- #5. Quebec: 12%
#17. Rock Pigeon
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 8%
- Average group size: 2.62
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 28%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 15%
--- #3. Quebec: 12%
--- #4. Ontario: 8%
--- #4. Alberta: 8%
#18. American Crow
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 8%
- Average group size: 2.26
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 67%
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 67%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 50%
--- #4. British Columbia: 29%
--- #5. Quebec: 23%
#19. Bohemian Waxwing
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 6%
- Average group size: 10.13
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 6%
--- #1. Manitoba: 6%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 4%
--- #4. British Columbia: 2%
#20. Mountain Chickadee
- Sites visited Nov. 8 to Nov. 21: 6%
- Average group size: 2.87
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 9%
--- #2. Alberta: 6%
