The Calgary Count results will be presented, plus those from the Fish Creek Park New Year’s Day Count.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Everyone is welcome to a special event to be held next Thursday, February 26th at the Royal Canadian Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW. This is the venue we use for Birds & Beers events, so many of you will be familair with the format. The doors of the big ballroom open for us at 5pm. If you can come early you can order food and drinks and visit with your fellow birders. At about 7 pm we will start the presentations.
Merlin at Pearce Estate, Calgary CBC, December 14, 2025. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Jim Washbrook will present the results and historical trends of the long-running half-day Count in Fish Creek Park. This is held annually on New Year’s Day. Matt Wallace will have the results of the Calgary Count, which recorded 68 species and 43,631 individual birds within the Count Circle. Expect to see some great photos (much better than mine)!
American Wigeon with dabbling Mallard, Pearce Estate, December 14, 2025. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
Bald Eagle, December 14, 2025. Photo by Joyce Tse.
Our Feeder Watchers had a lot of good birds on the count too:
Red-breasted Nuthatch, December 14, 2025. Photo by Marilyn Parker.
Whether you took part in these counts or not, come for an enjoyable and informative evening!
Notes: Children are welcome at the Legion as long as they are accompanied by an adult. We have to pay a small fee for the use of the room so we ask for an optional donation of $1 per person to cover this. Any extra money is donated to the Legion. The next Birds & Beers event at the Legion is on Thursday February 12th, where Jody Allair will give a talk called “Inspired by Birds.”
Bohemian Waxwing, Carburn Park, February 6, 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
There is a large flock of Bohemian Waxwing flying around the North Glenmore Park, it’s great to see them back! These social birds are usually found in a tight flock that is full of non-stop trilling and fluttering. Their flocks can number in the thousands, however the one I saw looked to be about 150 birds. The best way to guarantee the number of birds is to be the only one around to count them. In this case I didn’t have much time because a car honked and they took off in a moving cloud, trilling away.
Bohemian Waxwings are primarily fruit-eaters in the winter, and in Calgary they usually eat Mountain Ash berries. Wikimedia commons, no restrictions, Lisa Hupp/USFWS.
I have a soft spot for masked birds, so the Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings are always a welcome sight. These two birds are very similar to one another. However looking at their bar chart on eBird for Calgary it’s like they have two shifts, a Winter shift and a Summer shift. That makes it easy to guess which species you are looking at. The Bohemian Waxwing summers in the north, they must feel right at home in the cold, so they took the winter shift. You can also see from this chart that a few hardy (and perhaps not very bright) Cedar Waxwings stick it out here in Calgary over the winter.
How to tell if a stray Cedar is in a flock of Bohemians? The Bohemian Waxwing can be identified by its Cinnamon undertail and they are plumper and more jolly looking, than their sleeker cousin. Both birds have the sweet black mask and funky head plumage, as well as bright colors at the end of their wingtips and tails. This is where they get their name from, previous generations thought their wingtips looked like they had been dipped in wax. This is another example of how much day-to-day life has changed, the importance of wax has plummeted in the modern era.
An overwintering Cedar Waxwing (top) and a Bohemain Waxwing (bottom), Queen’s Park Cemetery, Calgary, March 6, 2018. Photo by Ron Chiasson.
The trilling sound they make is not a true song but a high-pitched sound that is nevertheless very distinct. I’m sure they are discussing something of great importance, probably where the dried berries are, which is their winter food. The abundance of Mountain Ash in Calgary would make you think they have it made here, however their populations see wild fluctuations. For example in the below chart we have the eBird total sightings for the winter months in Calgary. The numbers have dropped drastically, especially in 2025. As their name suggests they are wanderers at heart so we can only hope there is a berry laden place somewhere else in Alberta where they are all congregating.
Total birds on eBird checklists, Winter months. 5 year comparison:
Even if there is some other factor, like a Bohemian Waxwing loving birder has moved from Calgary, the numbers are telling us these birds aren’t around as much. In fact, although these birds are considered ‘common’, the “Partners in Flight” organization has identified them as a “Species in Steep Decline”. This organization is made up of a network of more than 150 partner organizations in the Western Hemisphere, concerned with landbirds specifically.
If you see the Bohemian Waxwings in North Glenmore, take a moment to admire them, I know I did until the horn honked, a clear warning in the cold winter air.
There have been some good species found in the Calgary area this year, and still many more to find. Christmas Bird Counts are taking place on December 14th in Calgary, and on several other dates until January 5 in the area. We should add some of the regulars then, and with a little luck, some more rarities.
The star of the show so far is the Northern Mockingbird in the city – only the second one since this count started in 2017. The bird is still here and being seen regulary in Rotary Park near Centre Street and Memorial Drive.
A Peregrine Falcon seen on December 3rd in Downtown Calgary was the first one we’ve had. These birds nest downtown and one is quite late in departing. I don’t know if it’s still around.
A Mourning Dove seen along the Bow River in Cranston Meadows was the 4th in 9 years.
It’s been a really good year for Short-eared Owls east of the city, and there have been a few Long-eared Owl sightings as well. Snowy Owl sightings have been concentrated NE of the city in the Irricana/Beiseker area. We added a Prairie Falcon and a Northern Harrier in that region as well.
Gyrfalcon, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Wild Turkey, and Sharp-tailed Grouse have each been reported on Facebook groups, or directly to me.
The Alberta province-wide list has some rarities in its 114 species. In addition to the Mockingbird (reported for the third time in the last ten years), there was also a recent Barn Owl in central Alberta (2nd in ten years) and a Double-crested Cormorant near Stavely, just outside of the Calgary circle (6 of the last 10 years).
On December 12th, the Calgary list was at 89 species. Our eight-year average is 113, and the high count was 120. Here are some species that are usually found that haven’t yet been reported:
Greater Scaup (seen 8/8 previous years; often seen at Carburn Park in the winter), Northern Hawk-Owl (8/8), Harris’s Sparrow (6/8), Varied Thrush (7/8), and Common Grackle (7/8). Some regulars that we don’t have yet that are usually found in the foothills west of the city are Northern Pygmy-Owl, Barred Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Steller’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, and American Dipper. Dippers are usually seen in the city as well, on the Elbow River or Fish Creek.
Spend 30 minutes counting birds on December 14th for the Calgary CBC.
We always like to have as many birders as possible go out in the field on Count Day, and this is how we get the majority of our birds and species. But field teams operate mostly in parks in the city (though we do have some diligent counters who drive residential back alleys!), and there are large areas of the city that are not covered in this way . That’s where the Feeder Watchers come in.
As a Feeder Watcher, you simply count the birds you see in or from your yard on Count Day. We ask that you spend at least 30 minutes counting in total, though you can spend much more time if you wish. Every year our Feeder Watchers see a good number of species, including usually one or two that are not found by the field teams. So they are an important part of the Count, and they do help to fill in the gaps in our coverage.
We can really use more people to watch at their feeders this year. If you have participated in the past, you still have to register this year to be included.
Below is an animated look at the tracks of the field teams in 2024. As Matt Wallace says in this Instagram post, it only includes 190 out of the 218 eBird tracks of field teams, which accounts for some of the large gaps in coverage. But look at all the residential spaces in between the tracks! There are a lot of birds in those areas, and we’d like to count them. (If this doesn’t play on your device, try this link: Instagram.)
In addition, the field teams are all located within the Count Circle, which has a 24-km diameter. We want to cover that circle as fully as possible. But over the years the city has expanded beyond the boundaries of the circle, leaving many willing backyard observers outside the Count. We have started to include observations by Feeder Watchers who are in the city but outside of the circle as part of our Community Christmas Bird Count. Those observations cannot be counted in the official Audubon count, but we feel that it is important to do this to get a more complete picture of the winter birds in our city, and to involve as many people as possible.
Please fill out the registration form if you’d like to take part, either as a Feeder Watcher inside or outside the city, or as part of a field team.
Bonus Read: Below is a link to a recent article about the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary in the Calgary Journal which includes an interview with CBC organizer Matt Wallace.
Register now to take part on Sunday December 14th!
One of the Field Teams at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary during the 2024 CBC. Photo by Paul Dang.
The 74th annual Calgary Christmas Bird Count (CBC YYC) will take place on Sunday, December 14, 2025. Here is a message from Coordinator Matt Wallace:
As you may know, Calgary hosts one of the largest CBCs in Alberta and Western Canada. In 2024, we had a total of 141 field participants and 163 feeder watchers, documenting 71 species and counting 39,446 individual birds. It’s a big job that takes an army of people to ensure its success each year. We hope you’ll join us again this season—no matter your experience or birding skills. Each one of you plays an important role, and the data we collect helps us understand long-term trends in our winter birds.
We’ve set up a Google Form that we kindly ask everyone to fill out so we have your most up-to-date information for analysis and team assignments. Please share the registration form widely with your network of neighbours, friends, family, and colleagues. Register Here. Once you submit your registration you will receive an acknowledgement email from us, followed by further instructions in mid-November.
A quick note: This year, I am seeking a “shadow” assistant (or assistants) to work with our organizing team. I plan to hand off the CBC Coordinator role to an inspired member of our community for the 2026 Calgary event, as I may be relocating in the new year. Finding a suitable successor will help ensure the continued success and legacy of this long-running event.
A Sharp-shinned Hawk from the 2024 Count. Photo by Ken Pride.
Birds Canada has also launched a pilot project encouraging CBC circles to have Community Engagement Leaders (CELs). Calgary has been ahead of the curve in this regard—this has essentially been my role in recent years, while Lara Fitzpatrick has handled much of the data analysis for our circle. Bob Lefebvre is another key member of our team, overseeing feeder watcher outreach and following up on notable or unusual bird reports.
Birds Canada: The CEL roles are defined as:
Participant recruitment and community outreach
Helping manage sector/section/zone assignments and coordination
Onboarding new participants and facilitating mentoring
Coordinating communications with participants
This pretty much sums up what we are looking for in the “Shadow Assistant” Role with this person leading the charge next year. If you’re interested in taking on the coordinator role, there’s an option on the registration form where you can indicate your interest and provide a few details. We’ll be in touch right away to include you in this year’s planning. We encourage anyone with an interest to apply!
A Bald eagle from the 2024 Count. Photo by Andrew Hart.
Please watch for more information in November, including data submission instructions and templates.
A quick reminder that our CBC is open to anyone with an interest in the outdoors including experienced birders, novices, and the public. We try to accommodate all abilities and ages to grow and support our community, so please let us know if you need any assistance or have any requests using the comment section of the form.
Gadwall, from the 2024 Count. Photo by Andrew hart.
The most “Halloween” bird around is the Northern Shrike, aka, the “butcher bird”. Although it is a Passerine, which is a perching songbird, it has rejected the usual cutesy song-bird personality and instead is a merciless hunter. Not only does it hunt other birds, but it is known to rip its kill to shreds and impale pieces of the body on barb wire fences and tree branches. I don’t think a bird can get more grisly than that, it would even make a Crow shudder. It needs no costume to strike fear in a little bird’s heart, however it does sport a small black mask and a heavy hooked beak.
Northern Shrike, showing its black mask and sharply hooked bill. Grand Valley Road, NW of Cochrane, April 20, 2013. Photo by Dan Arndt.
The Northern Shrike will scout out a nest or mouse hole and wait to strike. If it’s after a flying bird it may force it to the ground with its feet. Then it makes the kill with its hooked beak. In its upper bill (at the front) it has a vampirish toothlike spike, called a tomial tooth, that it uses to break the necks of its prey.
The Shrike spends its summer in the far north and just comes to Calgary for the winter, that’s how tough it is. Apparently, it finds our “balmy” -20°C days pleasant.
“Vlad the Impaler” with a bit of songbird in its beak. Photo by Ron Ostrander, Carburn Park, Calgary, 2024.
The same bird as above, after impaling the bit of meat on a branch. Photo by Ron Ostrander, Carburn Park, Calgary, 2024.
Ron saw the pictured Northern Shrike at Carburn Park last winter. Shrikes are known to return to the same winter territory year after year, so keep an eye out; you might see this tiny terror perched high atop a tree, scanning for its next victim.
In the summer they will head back to the far north to nest. One sweet fact about this bird – their nest is a deep cup that, when the female is in it, only her tail can be seen.
This winter get your binoculars ready to see a real horror icon: the Northern Shrike.
-Cathy
Northern Shrike. Castor, Alberta, April 4, 2017. Photo by Dan Arndt.
Note:The Northern Shrike has a summertime lookalike, the Loggerhead Shrike. Northern Shrikes are in our area from early October to late April. Loggerheads arrive in mid-May and can sometimes be seen into September. There is the possibility of a little overlap in May and September. Loggerhead Shrikes are a little smaller than Northerns, and have a clear breast without the barring of the Northern. They have a smaller bill with a tip that is less hooked, but they share the feeding habits of the Northern Shrike.-Bob
Loggerhead Shrike, June 22, 2022. Photo by Dan Arndt.
One of the birds leaving Calgary this September is the Sora. Were you one of the lucky few who saw it at the North Glenmore storm pond?
Sora. USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A few years ago I saw one of these charismatic birds at Inglewood, I was with my sister who is not really a birder. The conversation went like this:
(a Sora just casually standing in a pond in full view)
Me: Holy Cow! A Sora! Wow I can’t believe it, look at it! Wow! We are so lucky, how rare!
Sister: That’s nice.
Me: We are so lucky! This is amazing!
Sister: Uh huh (starts walking).
And yet if she became a birder and started looking for a Sora it would probably take years to see one. I trolled that North Glenmore Storm pond so many times this summer and nothing! The Sora is one of those birds only birders know about. Even though they are common they are really good at hiding in the reeds.
Sora, Valleyview Park, SE Calgary, 2008. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
The Sora is a plump little chicken-like bird that belongs to the Rail family. They frequent ponds and wetlands. The Sora has very long toes that help them walk on floating mats of vegetation. They are grey and brown with an impossibly yellow triangle beak. The first time I saw one at the storm pond I thought it was floating because it was standing in water that came up to its undercarriage. I was flipping through my Sibleys looking for a duck with a yellow triangle beak. The most obvious identifier is their call, a descending laughing sound. Although lately I feel like the Red Winged Blackbirds around the storm pond are mimicking it which has caused me a lot of disappointment. Birding – what a roller coaster!
When a Sora walks it puts its head forward with each step as it looks for aquatic plant seeds or bugs to eat. It’s been known to use its long toes to rake the vegetation. Their long legs are great for running away really quickly, often you will just get a glimpse of them. A brown blur with a yellow streak.
Sora. Photo by Diane Stinson, June 2, 2025, North Glenmore Park.
Now that it’s September our little storm pond Sora will be departing on a very long journey, possibly as far as South America. They fly further than any other Rail despite their circular form and long legs. Hopefully it is back next year and I can have another season of attempting to spot the beguiling Sora.
Calgary is lucky to have Wood Ducks within our city limits. In June eBird checklists have about a 5% chance of including a Wood Duck, compare this with Edmonton with only a 0.1% chance! Virtually zero! Something to keep in your back pocket next time the subject of hockey comes up. “Well we have Wood Ducks!”.
If you have seen a Wood Duck you will know why this is a brag. They are like a beautiful sculpture come to life. If you want to see one for the first time (or again) head to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, a Wood Duck hotspot. This waterfowl has a beautiful shimmery green pompadour swept back to the nape of its neck and bright red eyes. No boring modern minimalism for this guy, it has speckles, stripes, shimmers and all kinds of colour: burgundy, blue, a bit of beige. Its latin name is “Aix Sponsa”, which can be loosely translated to “bridal duck”, it’s all dressed up for a fancy wedding. (Audubon). The female has plainer plumage, she makes do with some speckles on her front and a large white eye ring.
Male and female in flight. Photo by Dan Arndt
Its name comes from its close relationship to trees. The Wood Duck has claws on its duck feet that allow it to climb up trees. This is necessary since it nests in trees. The female will have two broods a year, which apparently is very rare for ducks. When the chicks are ready they will jump out of the tree, up to 50 feet! You have probably seen a video on the internet of ducklings jumping from trees in slow motion, landing like little puff balls on leaf litter. Their mom calls them out, encouraging them to jump, but doesn’t help otherwise. Then they follow her to the pond.
Mother Wood Duck with chicks. Photo by Dan Arndt.
So make a trip to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and you might get lucky and see the famous Wood Duck. They will be in the pond looking for weeds to eat. They also love perching on the logs in there, firmly in place with their claws, making it easier for you to get a picture of their finery.
The female and male Wood Duck, climbing on a log with their claws. Photo: wikimedia commons no restrictions.
There are still some areas that need observers. Please volunteer to help count on May 24th and 25th.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
A Bobolink I photographed on the May Species Count near Longview in 2023. I was shooting through some trees, and the leaves caused an unusual bokeh. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
The last weekend in May is the annual May Species Count in the Calgary region. The count covers a huge area – a circle 80 km in radius centred in downtown Calgary. The circle is divided into about 50 territories that each need to be covered by a birder or birders.
The Calgary May Species Count circle.
As of today, there are still some areas that are in need of observers. This includes some smaller areas within the city, as well as some longer walks such as the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Elliston Lake, and the 68 Street Wetlands east of Elliston. These are great territories!
All that is required is that you try to cover your area as fully as possible, and record all the birds you see on eBird.
If you are interested in helping out, please contact Andrew Hart at andrewhartch[at]gmail[dot]com or call 403.608.8918. Andrew will provide detailed but simple instructuons, and can assist you with eBird if you are new to it.
In addition to the areas that have no coverage, if you would like to join an existing group with experienced leaders to show you how the count is done, Andrew may be able to place you in one of these.
Please volunteer so that we have complete coverage of the count circle!
Last spring I volunteered to help clean up the Wetlands just east of Elliston Park, in the Forest Lawn area. It was organized by Nature Calgary. I also “volun-told” my teenage son Finn that he was helping. What could be better than a bit of birding with another purpose layered on top! We showed up on a sunny May day and were given capacious black garbage bags and a map of an area to clean. Our area was a large field that basically looked like a bunch of nothingness. Wetlands are like that, to our human eyes there is nothing there, not true! To a bird it is a great place to feed, breed and live.
There are many ponds in the 68 Street wetlands east of Elliston Lake. It is a great birding spot once the ice is off in April.
Making a circuit around our large area we slowly filled our garbage bags with Tim Hortons cups. We got to a stand of trees and stopped, these trees were, unfortunately, filled with garbage, big garbage. Our black bags suddenly appeared tiny. A dumpster truck was needed in that area. I toyed with the idea of putting a diaper genie in my bag, or carrying out a car windshield. Instead we backed away slowly and made our way to the pond.
The secret to getting teens birding is to plonk them down in a big field with a garbage bag and binoculars. There are only two options, birds or garbage. Finn suddenly became interested in looking at the birds through the binoculars. In the pond we saw a large group of American Avocet, the ballerinas of the bird world. These dainty and elegant wading birds were dipping their long thin bills in the pond, waving them side to side to catch small invertebrates.
Two Black-necked Stilt (left) and one American Avocet (right), 68 Street Wetlands. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar, April 22, 2018.
The American Avocet is fairly unmistakeable to identify: they have a rusty coloured head, black and white wings and a long upturned bill. They stride through the water on very long legs.
The Avocets’ pond was lined with a surprising amount of electronics equipment, probably something to do with the electronics recycling facility just south of their wetland. It felt good to untangle extension cords from the bushes and gather up all the small appliances.
Avocets lay their eggs out in the open, which doesn’t seem wise but they seem to know what they’re doing, their species has the best conservation rating of ‘Low Risk’. Their chicks leave the nest at only one day old, at that point they can walk, swim and even dive. Oh to have it as easy as an Avocet parent.
American Avocet with young, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Avocets nest in east Calgary wetlands.
Finn and I walked back along the road, collecting what appeared to be auto parts along the way. Either they fell off a truck or the city trucks are actively falling apart as they drive. Our bags were completely full either way. I focused on all the wire, seeing that as more harmful than pipes.
At the parking lot we delivered our completely full garbage bags to an already large pile. Somehow it still felt like we had missed so much, but at least the Avocet pond was a bit better. Our inaugural Wetlands clean up was celebrated with a Chinese Food feast. We plan on doing the exact same this year! Maybe Finn can learn how to drive a dump truck to make a dent in the pile by those trees. That would probably cost me three orders of Ginger Beef instead of the usual two.
