Southern Alberta is home to many birds throughout the year, and a wintertime list has been helping keep track of them as they move in, through and out of the province.
Bob Lefebvre, who manages the popular Birds Calgary blog, has been keeping a comprehensive list of birds found in Calgary and surrounding area during winter, with a final report showing 111 bird species identified from Dec. 1, 2024 to Feb. 28, 2025.
"I started doing that for the Calgary area to try to get more people out there birding and keeping track of the winter lists, and more discussion going on about where to find things," he said.
Since starting the project in 2017, Lefebvre has compiled over 150 bird species in the Calgary count circle, which is an 80-kilometre radius around the Centre Street Bridge. The count circle stretches into numerous municipal districts, including Foothills, Rocky View, Wheatland, Clearwater, Mountain View and Bighorn.
The list, which was compiled through Lefebvre's own observations as well as those of fellow Calgary-area birders and online resources such as birdwatching database eBird, covers everything from garden-variety magpies and mallards to more elusive birds such as snowy owls and golden eagles.
The average number of species recorded in the winter bird list is 113, making this year's count of 111 below average. However, the elimination of one species of bird has factored into that: the hoary and common redpoll were lumped together as one species in 2024, meaning the Calgary-area list lost one species.
"There's a lot of people now talking about where you'll find these birds," said Lefebvre. "They see what's been recorded and where people are finding them, and it gets people more interested in keeping track of a winter list because it is the slowest time of year, as far less species are around."
The report indicates that this year was an unusually good year for owls: of the 10 owl species typically found in the area, all made appearances, including rarer ones such as the barred owl, long-eared owl and boreal owl, many of which were seen on multiple occasions in different locations.
Great grey owls and northern hawk owls were reported in much larger numbers than usual, with these observations stemming from an irruption, a phenomenon that has brought these birds from remote locations to more developed areas in droves.
The report pointed to the sighting of a northern hawk owl in Okotoks as a notable irregularity, as these elusive birds are typically found in the boreal forest, far away from developed areas.
Another notable sighting in Okotoks was a great blue heron observed throughout January and February, an unusual sighting considering that the species typically migrates south for the winter.
A few irregular species made appearances during the count this year: the white-crowned sparrow, known to live in Calgary in warmer weather but rarely during the winter, was found in Calgary's Carburn Park in January, marking only the second time in eight years that one has made it on the winter list. Other rarities found this year include the long-tailed duck and swamp sparrow, the latter of which had never been on the list before.
While the Calgary winter bird list has only been kept since 2017 and is therefore too early to serve as a reliable indicator of long-term bird migration trends, it serves as a valuable starting point to identifying those trends while encouraging interest in birds and birdwatching throughout the year.
The complete list, including data from this year's count and past years, is available here.
Lefebvre promotes birding as a hobby to be enjoyed year-round.
"It's a great way to get outside at any season, anytime," he said.
"Birds are always interesting, there's always lots to learn. It's one of those endless hobbies. You never get to the bottom of it because biology is so fascinating, nature is so fascinating, you can always go into more and more detail...I'm just getting out, getting a lot of exercise, meeting people. It is a really good hobby."
