Most commonly seen birds in British Columbia
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in British Columbia using data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project FeederWatch. Birds are ranked by the percent of sites visited from Apr. 18 to Apr. 30. Ties are broken by the average group size when seen, any further ties were not broken. Data was collected at 129 count sites in British Columbia. 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. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 64%
- Average group size: 6.8
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 99%
--- #2. Manitoba: 98%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 97%
--- #4. Newfoundland and Labrador: 92%
--- #5. Ontario: 85%
#2. House Finch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 64%
- Average group size: 3.78
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 64%
--- #2. Alberta: 50%
--- #3. Ontario: 43%
--- #4. Quebec: 40%
--- #5. Saskatchewan: 37%
#3. White-crowned Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 64%
- Average group size: 2.12
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 64%
--- #2. Ontario: 16%
--- #3. Alberta: 13%
--- #4. Quebec: 8%
--- #5. Manitoba: 7%
#4. American Robin
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 60%
- Average group size: 1.94
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Ontario: 71%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 65%
--- #3. Alberta: 61%
--- #3. Prince Edward Island: 61%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 60%
#5. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 56%
- Average group size: 1.55
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 56%
--- #2. Manitoba: 39%
--- #3. Newfoundland and Labrador: 38%
--- #3. Nova Scotia: 38%
--- #5. Alberta: 36%
#6. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 51%
- Average group size: 2.78
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 100%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 98%
--- #3. Manitoba: 96%
--- #4. Newfoundland and Labrador: 92%
--- #5. Prince Edward Island: 89%
#7. Anna's Hummingbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 50%
- Average group size: 1.57
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 50%
#8. American Crow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 48%
- Average group size: 2.49
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 83%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 69%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 68%
--- #4. Alberta: 56%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 54%
#9. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 44%
- Average group size: 1.48
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Alberta: 61%
--- #2. Saskatchewan: 50%
--- #3. Nova Scotia: 49%
--- #4. New Brunswick: 47%
--- #5. British Columbia: 44%
#10. Song Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 43%
- Average group size: 1.54
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 87%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 71%
--- #3. Quebec: 68%
--- #4. Prince Edward Island: 67%
--- #5. British Columbia: 43%
#11. Rufous Hummingbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 41%
- Average group size: 1.58
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 41%
#12. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 40%
- Average group size: 4.44
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 93%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 91%
--- #3. Ontario: 79%
--- #4. Quebec: 78%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 77%
#13. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 40%
- Average group size: 2.55
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 40%
#14. Spotted Towhee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 40%
- Average group size: 1.76
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 40%
#15. Golden-crowned Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 31%
- Average group size: 2.41
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. British Columbia: 31%
#16. Purple Finch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 29%
- Average group size: 2.38
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. New Brunswick: 82%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 62%
--- #3. Manitoba: 52%
--- #4. Quebec: 50%
--- #5. Newfoundland and Labrador: 46%
#17. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 26%
- Average group size: 1.16
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 75%
--- #2. Manitoba: 72%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 68%
--- #4. Alberta: 65%
--- #5. Ontario: 62%
#18. Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 24%
- Average group size: 1.63
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 43%
--- #2. British Columbia: 24%
--- #3. Saskatchewan: 20%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 11%
--- #5. Alberta: 3%
#19. European Starling
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 22%
- Average group size: 3.12
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Newfoundland and Labrador: 69%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 47%
--- #3. Quebec: 45%
--- #4. Prince Edward Island: 44%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 38%
#20. House Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 21%
- Average group size: 3.54
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Saskatchewan: 67%
--- #2. Alberta: 54%
--- #2. Manitoba: 54%
--- #4. Newfoundland and Labrador: 38%
--- #5. Quebec: 32%
