Posted by Bob Lefebvre
For the past five years Caroline Lambert and I have been keeping track of all species reported in the Calgary region in the winter months (December 1 to February 28). This is something that Gerry Fox has done for the Edmonton birding community for many years. Caroline also keeps a list for the Bow Valley birding area in the Banff-Canmore area. There is also a long-standing list for the whole province that is maintained by Richard Klauke.
It’s interesting to see how many species and how many rarities we can find in the winter, and many birders like to keep a personal winter list so that they have incentive to get out during these slow birding months.
The Calgary region is the 80-km diameter circle that is also used for the May Species Count:
Here are the numbers of species we have recorded:
In the first two years we only accepted sightings that were posted to Albertabird but since then we have included any confirmed sightings we can get. So, although it is a small sample size, 110 to 120 species seems to be what we get in the winter.
We are currently at 113 species. The most recent additions, since January 15, are Red Crossbill, Purple Finch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, and Clark’s Nutcracker.
As always seems to happen when you keep a list, we have had some great rarities this year, but we have also missed on some species we usually get. But there is still a little over a week to go, so maybe we can find two or three more.
The three species that have been reported in all four previous years but not this year are American Kestrel, Harris’s Sparrow, and American Goldfinch. It seems a long shot that these will be found at this point, but it’s surprising that none have been seen.
Spruce Grouse is definitely a species we should be able to find. It was reported in three out of the four previous winters. Although their range is restricted to the western edge of the circle, there should be some around.
The other possibilities are the three local “hard-to-find” owls, Barred, Long-eared, and Boreal. And sometimes we get California Gulls or even Ring-billed before the end of February.
My personal winter list is now up to 44 species, which is still very low. I have only six species that are only or primarily seen in winter, plus a lot of resident birds and seasonal rarities. So I have nine days to go find Snowy Owls, Snow Buntings, Pine Grosbeaks, Northern Shrikes, and many others!
Here is a link to the page that Caroline maintains with all four winter lists. If you’ve seen any of the species that haven’t yet been reported this winter, let me know.
Previous posts on Albertabird about the 2021-2022 Calgary winter list: