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List of birds of British Columbia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Steller's Jay flagstaff arizona
The Steller's jay is the official bird of British Columbia.

Welcome to the amazing world of birds in British Columbia, Canada! This list shows all the different kinds of birds that have been seen and recorded here. As of June 2021, there are 593 bird species on this list. Some of these birds are rare visitors, while others have been brought here by people. Sadly, some birds that used to live here are now gone.

This list follows the order used by bird experts from the American Ornithological Society. We use their names for the birds and their families.

Here are some special tags you will see next to some bird names. They tell you how often the bird is seen in British Columbia:

  • (A) Accidental – This bird is rarely seen in British Columbia.
  • (I) Introduced – People brought this bird to British Columbia, either on purpose or by accident.
  • (OU) Origin Uncertain – We are not sure if this bird arrived naturally or with human help.
  • (SR) Sight Record – This bird has only been seen, but there is no photo or other proof.
  • (H) Hypothetical – There are records of this bird, but they are hard to confirm.

We also use symbols from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to show how safe a bird's population is around the world. These symbols tell us if a species is doing well or if it is in danger.

How safe are the birds?
= Least Concern = Near Threatened = Vulnerable
= Endangered = Critically Endangered = Extinct in the Wild
= Extinct

Ducks, Geese, and Swans

Branta canadensis -near Oceanville, New Jersey, USA -flying-8
A Canada goose flying.
Tumpeter1byWoodigo
A beautiful Trumpeter swan.
Histrionicus histrionicus drake Barnegat
The colourful Harlequin duck.

Order: Anseriformes – Family: Anatidae

This group includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are great at living in water. They have webbed feet for swimming and special feathers that keep water off.

New World Quail

Order: Galliformes – Family: Odontophoridae

New World quails are small, round birds that live on the ground. They look similar to Old World quails but are not closely related.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Falcipennis-canadensis-002
A Spruce grouse in its natural home.

Order: Galliformes – Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and grouse. They are ground-dwelling birds that vary in size. Many of these birds are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Grebes

Western Grebe swimming
A Western grebe swimming gracefully.

Order: Podicipediformes – Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are diving birds that live in freshwater. They have special lobed toes that help them swim and dive very well. However, their feet are set far back on their bodies, making them clumsy on land.

Pigeons and Doves

Order: Columbiformes – Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are plump birds with short necks and small bills. They eat seeds, fruits, and plants. A unique thing about them is that both parents make "crop milk" to feed their young.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes – Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos and roadrunners. These birds have slim bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars and Allies

Order: Caprimulgiformes – Family: Caprimulgidae

Nightjars are medium-sized birds that are active at night. They usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very small bills. Their soft feathers help them blend in with tree bark or leaves.

Swifts

White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis) in flight
A White-throated swift flying.

Order: Apodiformes – Family: Apodidae

Swifts are small birds that spend most of their lives flying. They have very short legs and almost never land on the ground. They often perch on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long, swept-back wings that look like a crescent moon.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes – Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in the air. They can flap their wings very fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Order: Gruiformes – Family: Rallidae

This family includes rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. They are small to medium-sized birds that live in thick plants near water. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes for walking on soft ground.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes – Family: Gruidae

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts. They are large wading birds with long legs. Avocets have bills that curve upwards, while stilts have very long, straight bills.

Oystercatchers

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Haematopodidae

Oystercatchers are large, easy-to-spot, and noisy birds. They have strong bills that they use to open molluscs like oysters.

Plovers and Lapwings

Killdeer
A Killdeer on the ground.

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies and short, thick necks. They live in open areas, often near water.

Sandpipers and Allies

Actitis-macularia-005
A Spotted sandpiper near the water.
Arenaria interpres (habitus)
A colourful Ruddy turnstone.

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Scolopacidae

This is a large and varied family of shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, and snipes. Most of these birds eat small bugs they find in mud or soil. Their different bill and leg lengths allow many species to feed in the same areas without competing for food.

Skuas and Jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas and jaegers are medium to large birds that look like dark gulls. They have strong, hooked bills and webbed feet. They are powerful fliers.

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

Tufted Puffin Alaska (cropped)
A Tufted puffin in Alaska.

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Alcidae

Alcids look a bit like penguins because they are black and white and stand upright. However, they are not closely related and can fly! Auks live in the open sea and only come to land to nest.

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Kuestenseeschwalbe-Kniepsand
An Arctic tern flying.

Order: Charadriiformes – Family: Laridae

This family includes gulls and terns. They are medium to large seabirds, usually grey or white with black markings. They have strong bills and webbed feet.

Tropicbirds

Order: Phaethontiformes – Family: Phaethontidae

Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans. They have very long central tail feathers. Their wings and head have black markings.

Penguins

Order: Sphenisciformes – Family: Spheniscidae

Penguins are aquatic birds that cannot fly. They live mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. Most penguins eat krill, fish, and squid that they catch while swimming underwater.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes – Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, about the size of a large duck. They are mostly grey or black and have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim and fly well, but they are very clumsy on land because their legs are at the back of their bodies.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Diomedeidae

Albatrosses are among the largest flying birds. Some species have the biggest wingspans of any living bird.

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Hydrobatidae

Storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds. They are related to petrels. They eat tiny sea creatures and small fish from the water's surface, often while hovering. Their flight is fluttery, sometimes like a bat.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Bullershearwater
A Buller's shearwater flying over the ocean.

Order: Procellariiformes – Family: Procellariidae

This group includes medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and long outer wing feathers.

Storks

Order: Ciconiiformes – Family: Ciconiidae

Storks are large, heavy wading birds with long legs, long necks, and strong bills. They have wide wings. Unlike other wading birds, storks do not have special "powder down" feathers to clean off fish slime. They also cannot make sounds.

Frigatebirds

Order: Suliformes – Family: Fregatidae

Frigatebirds are large seabirds found in tropical oceans. They are mostly black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. Males have colourful throat pouches that they can inflate. They cannot swim or walk well and cannot take off from flat ground. They have the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, meaning they can stay in the air for more than a week!

Boobies and Gannets

Order: Suliformes – Family: Sulidae

This family includes gannets and boobies. Both are medium-large seabirds that live near coasts. They dive headfirst into the water to catch fish.

Cormorants and Shags

Phalacrocorax-auritus-007
A Double-crested cormorant.

Order: Suliformes – Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds. They usually have dark feathers and coloured skin on their faces. Their bills are long, thin, and sharply hooked. They have four webbed toes.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes – Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds. They have a special pouch under their beak. Like other birds in their group, they have four webbed toes.

Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes – Family: Ardeidae

This family includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns are usually shorter-necked and more secretive. These birds fly with their necks pulled back, unlike storks or ibises.

Ibises and Spoonbills

Order: Pelecaniformes – Family: Threskiornithidae

This family includes ibises and spoonbills. They have long, wide wings and long bodies and necks. Their bills are also long; ibises have curved bills, while spoonbills have flat, spoon-shaped bills.

New World Vultures

9048-20110226-TurkeyVulture
A Turkey vulture soaring.

Order: Cathartiformes – Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures are not closely related to Old World vultures. They look similar because they both adapted to eat dead animals. Unlike Old World vultures, New World vultures have a good sense of smell to find food.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes – Family: Pandionidae

The Osprey family has only one type of bird. Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey. They have a large, hooked beak, strong legs, powerful claws, and excellent eyesight.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Northern Goshawk ad M2
An American goshawk.

Order: Accipitriformes – Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, and kites. These birds of prey have very large, hooked beaks to tear meat from their food. They also have strong legs, powerful claws, and sharp eyesight.

Barn-Owls

Order: Strigiformes – Family: Tytonidae

Barn-owls are medium to large owls. They have big heads and a special heart-shaped face.

Owls

Surnia-ulula-002
A Northern hawk owl.

Order: Strigiformes – Family: Strigidae

Typical owls are mostly solitary birds of prey that hunt at night. They have large eyes that face forward and good hearing. They have a hawk-like beak and a circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Kingfishers

Order: Coraciiformes – Family: Alcedinidae

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads and long, pointed bills. They have short legs and stubby tails.

Woodpeckers

Downy Woodpecker01
A Downy woodpecker.

Order: Piciformes – Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds. They have chisel-like beaks, short legs, and stiff tails. They use their long tongues to catch insects. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Falcons and Caracaras

Order: Falconiformes – Family: Falconidae

This family includes falcons and caracaras. Unlike hawks and eagles, falcons kill their prey with their beaks instead of their claws.

Tyrant Flycatchers

Tyrannus-verticalis-001
A Western kingbird.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are songbirds found in North and South America. They look a bit like Old World flycatchers but are stronger. Most of them eat insects.

Vireos and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Vireonidae

Vireos are small to medium-sized songbirds mostly found in the New World. They are usually greenish and look like wood warblers, but have stronger bills.

Shrikes

Lanius excubitor 1 (Marek Szczepanek)
A Northern shrike.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are songbirds known for catching small animals and even other birds. They sometimes stick their uneaten prey on thorns, like a butcher. A shrike's beak is hooked, similar to a bird of prey.

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Black-billed Magpie
A Black-billed magpie.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Corvidae

This family includes crows, ravens, jays, and magpies. Corvids are larger than average songbirds. Some of the bigger species are very intelligent.

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Paridae

This family includes small, sturdy woodland birds with short, strong bills. Some have crests on their heads. They are adaptable birds that eat a mix of seeds and insects.

Larks

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small ground birds known for their beautiful songs and fancy display flights. Most larks are plain in colour. They eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Tachycineta thalassina -San Luis Obispo, California, USA -male-8 (1)
A male Violet-green swallow.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Hirundinidae

Swallows are birds that are built for catching food in the air. They have slim bodies, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide mouth. Their feet are better for perching than for walking.

Long-tailed Tits

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Aegithalidae

Long-tailed tits are a family of small songbirds with medium to long tails. They build woven, bag-shaped nests in trees. Most of them eat a mix of insects.

Leaf Warblers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Phylloscopidae

Leaf warblers are a family of small insect-eating birds. They are mostly found in Eurasia. The Arctic warbler breeds as far east as Alaska. These birds come in different sizes, often green above and yellow below, or more muted grey-green to grey-brown.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look like titmice. They are very small birds that eat insects. Adult kinglets have coloured crowns on their heads, which is how they got their name.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Bombycillidae

Waxwings are songbirds with soft, silky feathers. They have unique red tips on some of their wing feathers that look like sealing wax. These birds live in northern forests. They eat insects in summer and berries in winter.

Silky-Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Ptiliogonatidae

Silky-flycatchers are a small family of songbirds found mainly in Central America. They are related to waxwings, and most species have small crests.

Nuthatches

White-Breasted Nuthatch
A White-breasted nuthatch.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have a special ability to climb down trees headfirst, which most other birds cannot do. Nuthatches have big heads, short tails, and strong bills and feet.

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown on top and white underneath. They have thin, pointed, down-curved bills. They use their bills to pull insects out of tree bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Polioptilidae

These delicate birds look and act like Old World warblers. They move quickly through leaves looking for insects. Gnatcatchers are mostly soft bluish-grey. They have the typical long, sharp bill of an insect-eater. Many species have distinct black patterns on their heads and long, often cocked, black-and-white tails.

Wrens

Cistothorus palustris Iona
A Marsh wren.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and often hard to see, but they have very loud songs. They have short wings and thin, down-curved bills. Several species often hold their tails straight up. All wrens eat insects.

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Oreoscoptes montanus Sandy Hook NJ
A Sage thrasher.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Mimidae

This family includes thrashers and mockingbirds. These birds are famous for their amazing songs and their ability to copy many different bird calls and other sounds. They usually have dull grey and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Sturnidae

Starlings and mynas are small to medium-sized songbirds from the Old World. They have strong feet and fly powerfully and directly. Most live in open areas and eat insects and fruit. Many species have dark feathers with a metallic shine.

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Cinclidae

Dippers are a group of perching birds that live near water in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They are named for their bobbing movements. These birds can dive underwater and walk on the bottom to find insect larvae to eat.

Thrushes and Allies

Townsends-solitaire-lake-vadnais-3
A Townsend's solitaire.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are a group of songbirds, mostly found in the Old World. They are plump, soft-feathered, and small to medium-sized. They eat insects or sometimes everything (omnivores), often finding food on the ground. Many thrushes have beautiful songs.

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. These are mainly small birds that live in trees and eat insects, often catching them in flight.

Accentors

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Prunellidae

Accentors are small, rather plain birds that look a bit like sparrows, but are not related. They have thin, sharp bills. They eat insects in summer and seeds and berries in winter.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small songbirds. They are generally plump, brownish or greyish birds with short tails and strong, short beaks. Sparrows eat seeds, but also small insects.

Wagtails and Pipits

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Motacillidae

This family includes wagtails and pipits. They are small songbirds with medium to long tails. They are slender, insect-eating birds that feed on the ground in open areas.

Finches and Allies

Whitewingedcrossbillmale09
A male White-winged crossbill.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Fringillidae

Finches are songbirds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-sized and have strong, often cone-shaped beaks. They have a bouncy flight pattern, flapping and then gliding with closed wings. Most finches sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds used to be with the New World sparrows. They are usually found in open grassy areas.

Old World Buntings

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Emberizidae

This family of songbirds contains only one genus. Until 2017, the New World sparrows were also part of this family.

New World Sparrows

Spizella-arborea-002 edit2
An American tree sparrow.
Junco hyemalis 5884 cropped
A Dark-eyed junco.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Passerellidae

These birds were once part of the Emberizidae family. Most are called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of these birds have unique patterns on their heads.

Yellow-breasted Chat

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Icteriidae

This bird was once thought to be a wood-warbler, but experts were unsure. In 2017, it was placed in its own family.

Troupials and Allies

Western Meadowlark
A Western meadowlark.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Icteridae

This group includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and orioles. They are small to medium-sized songbirds, often colourful. Most species have black as their main feather colour, sometimes with bright yellow, orange, or red.

New World Warblers

Cape may WARBLER X
A colourful Cape May warbler.
Ovenbird RWD2011b
An Ovenbird.

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Parulidae

Wood-warblers are a group of small, often colourful, songbirds found only in the New World. Most live in trees, but some live more on the ground. Most members of this family eat insects.

Cardinals and Allies

Order: Passeriformes – Family: Cardinalidae

Cardinals are a family of strong, seed-eating birds with powerful bills. They usually live in open woodlands. Males and females often have different coloured feathers.

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List of birds of British Columbia Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.