Most commonly seen birds in Nova Scotia
Stacker compiled a list of the most common birds seen near feeders in Nova Scotia 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 45 count sites in Nova Scotia. 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. Black-capped Chickadee
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 98%
- Average group size: 3.78
- 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%
#2. American Goldfinch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 93%
- Average group size: 8.31
- 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%
#3. Blue Jay
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 89%
- Average group size: 4.06
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 100%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 89%
--- #3. Newfoundland and Labrador: 85%
--- #4. New Brunswick: 71%
--- #5. Manitoba: 65%
#4. Song Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 87%
- Average group size: 1.89
- 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%
#5. Mourning Dove
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 84%
- Average group size: 4.86
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 94%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 85%
--- #3. Nova Scotia: 84%
--- #4. Ontario: 80%
--- #5. Quebec: 70%
#6. American Crow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 69%
- Average group size: 2.54
- 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%
#7. Common Grackle
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 64%
- Average group size: 2.89
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 78%
--- #2. Ontario: 72%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 65%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 64%
--- #5. Quebec: 60%
#8. Dark-eyed Junco
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 62%
- Average group size: 3.81
- 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%
#9. Purple Finch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 62%
- Average group size: 2.49
- 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%
#10. American Robin
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 60%
- Average group size: 2.31
- 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%
#11. Downy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 60%
- Average group size: 1.27
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 75%
--- #2. Manitoba: 72%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 68%
--- #4. Alberta: 65%
--- #5. Ontario: 62%
#12. Northern Cardinal
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 56%
- Average group size: 1.88
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Ontario: 74%
--- #2. Quebec: 60%
--- #3. New Brunswick: 59%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 56%
--- #5. Prince Edward Island: 11%
#13. Red-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 49%
- Average group size: 1.29
- 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%
#14. European Starling
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 4.52
- 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%
#15. Red-winged Blackbird
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 3.22
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Prince Edward Island: 67%
--- #2. Ontario: 60%
--- #3. Quebec: 58%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 47%
--- #5. New Brunswick: 41%
#16. White-throated Sparrow
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 2.03
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 67%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 65%
--- #3. Manitoba: 56%
--- #4. Ontario: 52%
--- #5. Nova Scotia: 47%
#17. Hairy Woodpecker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 1.29
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Quebec: 51%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 50%
--- #2. Manitoba: 50%
--- #4. Nova Scotia: 47%
--- #5. Saskatchewan: 40%
#18. White-breasted Nuthatch
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 47%
- Average group size: 1.25
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Manitoba: 50%
--- #2. Quebec: 47%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 47%
--- #2. Nova Scotia: 47%
--- #5. Ontario: 37%
#19. Evening Grosbeak
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 42%
- Average group size: 10.84
- Provinces with the highest percent of sites visited
--- #1. Nova Scotia: 42%
--- #2. Newfoundland and Labrador: 38%
--- #2. New Brunswick: 38%
--- #4. Saskatchewan: 23%
--- #5. Quebec: 21%
#20. Northern Flicker
- Sites visited Apr. 18 to Apr. 30: 38%
- Average group size: 1.14
- 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%
