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List of birds of Nunavut facts for kids

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Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus Muta)
The rock ptarmigan is the official bird of Nunavut.

This article is a list of all the different types of birds found in Nunavut, a large territory in Canada's Arctic. As of March 2021, experts have confirmed 298 bird species in Nunavut. Most of these birds live here regularly, but some are just visiting.

Here's what some tags next to the bird names mean:

  • (A) Accidental - This bird rarely or accidentally visits Nunavut. It's not usually found here.
  • (I) Introduced - This bird was brought to Nunavut by people, either on purpose or by accident.

The names of the birds are listed in a scientific order, which helps scientists keep track of them. You'll also see some names in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit people. There are different ways to say and spell words in Inuktitut, depending on the region. For example, the word for bird can be ᑎᖕᒥᐊᑦ or tingmiaq.

Birds in Inuit Culture

Birds have always been very important to the Inuit people, not just for food but for many other uses too!

  • Towels: Skins from larger birds were used as soft towels.
  • Cleaning Tools: Bird wings were sometimes used to dust or sweep homes.
  • Clothing and Containers: Bird skins could be made into containers, slippers, and even warm parkas (winter coats) if caribou skins were hard to find.
  • Learning to Hunt: Young boys often practiced their hunting skills by throwing stones at small birds.

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae

This group includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are amazing swimmers and divers! They have webbed feet and special feathers that shed water easily because of natural oils. Their bills are often flat, which helps them find food in the water.

Grouse and Ptarmigan

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and grouse. These birds live on land and are usually plump with short, wide wings. Many are hunted for food or raised on farms.

  • Spruce grouse (ᐊᕿᒡᒋᒋᖅ), Canachites canadensis
  • Willow ptarmigan (willow grouse, ᐊᕐᑭᒡᒋᕕᒃ, aqiligiq uvvalu, aqilgvik) Lagopus lagopus
  • Rock ptarmigan (ptarmigan, ᐊᕐᑭᒡᒋᖅ ᐊᑕᔪᓕᒃ, nikhaaktuq aqiligvik, aqilgiq) Lagopus muta
  • Sharp-tailed grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus (A)

Grebes

Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are freshwater diving birds, from small to medium-large in size. They have special lobed toes that make them excellent swimmers and divers. However, their feet are set far back on their bodies, so they are quite clumsy on land.

Pigeons and Doves

Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are birds with sturdy bodies, short necks, and thin bills. They eat seeds, fruits, and plants. Unlike most birds, they make "crop milk" in their throats to feed their young. Both parents produce this nutritious substance.

Cuckoos

Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae

This family includes cuckoos and roadrunners. These birds vary in size and have slender bodies, long tails, and strong legs.

Nightjars

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 short bills. Their soft feathers are camouflaged to look like tree bark or leaves.

Swifts

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. Instead, they perch on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long, swept-back wings that look like a crescent moon or a boomerang.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in mid-air. They can do this by flapping their wings incredibly fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward!

Rails, Gallinules, and Coots

Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae

This is a large family of small to medium-sized birds. They often live in thick plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are usually shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes, which help them walk on soft, uneven ground. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are not very strong fliers.

Cranes

Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and long necks. When they fly, their necks are stretched out, which is different from herons that pull their necks back. Many cranes have amazing and loud courtship dances.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts, which are large wading birds. Avocets have long legs and long, upward-curved bills. Stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Plovers and Lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae

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

Sandpipers and Allies

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae

This is a large and diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, godwits, and phalaropes. Most of these birds eat small insects and other tiny creatures they find in mud or soil. Their different leg and bill lengths allow many species to feed in the same areas without competing for food.

Skuas and Jaegers (ᐃᓱᙵᖅ, ihunngait, ihunngaq, isunngait)

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas and Jaegers are medium to large birds, often grey or brown with white marks on their wings. They have long bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. They look like large, dark gulls but are strong, acrobatic fliers.

Auks (tuulligjuak), Murres, and Puffins

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 to penguins and can fly! Auks live in the open sea and only come to land to nest.

  • Dovekie (little auk, ᐊᒃᐸᓕᐊᕐᔪᒃ (ᐊᑉᐸᓕᐊᕐᔪᒃ), akpaliarjuk) Alle alle
  • Common murre, Uria aalge (A)
  • Thick-billed murre (ᐊᒃᐸ, atpa, akpa) Uria lomvia
  • Razorbill (ᐊᒃᐸᐃᑦ ᐊᐃᑉᐸᖏᑦ) Alca torda
  • Black guillemot (ᐱᑦᑎᐅᓛᖅ (ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ), pittiulaaq) Cepphus grylle
  • Atlantic puffin (ᓯᒡᒍᑲᓪᓚᓖᑦ ᑎᖕᒥᐊᑦ) Fratercula arctica
  • Horned puffin, Fratercula corniculata (A)

Gulls (ᓇᐅᔭᖅ, naujaq), Terns, and Skimmers

Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae

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

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, about the size of a large duck, but they are not related. They are mostly grey or black and have sharp, spear-shaped bills. Loons are excellent swimmers and good fliers, but they are very clumsy on land because their legs are placed far back on their bodies.

Albatrosses

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Diomedeidae

Albatrosses are among the largest flying birds. Some, like the great albatrosses, have the biggest wingspans of any living bird!

Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae and Hydrobatidae

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

Shearwaters and Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae

This group includes medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and a long, working outer primary feather on their wings.

Boobies and Gannets

Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae

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

  • Northern gannet, Morus bassanus (A)

Cormorants and Shags

Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds, usually with dark feathers and colorful skin around their faces. They have long, thin, hooked bills and webbed feet with four toes.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with 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 usually have shorter necks and are more secretive. When birds in this family fly, they pull their necks back, unlike other long-necked birds.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures look like Old World vultures, but they are not closely related. They both eat dead animals. Unlike Old World vultures, which find food by sight, New World vultures have a great sense of smell to find carcasses.

Osprey

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae

The Osprey is a bird of prey that eats fish. It has a very large, strong, hooked beak for tearing meat, powerful legs, strong talons (claws), and excellent eyesight. This family has only one type of bird.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, and kites. These birds of prey have very large, powerful, hooked beaks for tearing meat from their prey. They also have strong legs, powerful talons, and keen eyesight.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae

Typical owls are usually solitary birds of prey that are active at night. They have large eyes that face forward and big ears. They also have a hawk-like beak and a clear circle of feathers around each eye, called a facial disk.

Kingfishers

Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae

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

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks. They have short legs, stiff tails, and long tongues that help them 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, which are birds of prey active during the day. They are different from hawks and eagles because they kill their prey with their beaks instead of their talons (claws).

Tyrant Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Tyrannidae

Tyrant flycatchers are songbirds found across North and South America. They look a bit like other flycatchers but are stronger and have sturdier bills. Most of them eat insects.

Vireos

Order: Passeriformes Family: Vireonidae

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

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are songbirds known for catching other birds and small animals. They sometimes impale (stick) the parts they don't eat onto thorns. A shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey.

  • Northern shrike, Lanius borealis

Crows, Jays, and Magpies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae

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

Tits and Chickadees

Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae

This family includes small, stocky woodland birds with short, strong bills. They are adaptable and eat a mix of seeds and insects.

Larks

Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae

Larks are small birds that live on the ground. They often have very showy songs and display flights. Most larks look quite plain. They eat insects and seeds.

  • Horned lark (ᖃᐅᕈᓪᓕᒐᖅ, qupanuaqpaarjuk) Eremophila alpestris

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae

Swallows are built for catching food in the air. They have slender, streamlined bodies, long, pointed wings, and short bills with wide mouths. Their feet are better for perching than walking.

Leaf Warblers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae

Leaf warblers are a family of small birds that eat insects. They are mostly found in Europe and Asia. The Arctic warbler breeds as far east as Alaska. These birds come in various sizes, often with green feathers on top and yellow underneath, or more muted grey-green to grey-brown colors.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of very tiny birds that eat insects. Adult kinglets have colorful crowns on their heads, which is how they got their name.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Bombycillidae

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

Nuthatches

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small woodland birds. They have a special ability to climb down trees headfirst, unlike most other birds that can only climb up. 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 that they use to pull insects out of tree bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes Family: Troglodytidae

Wrens are small and often hard to spot, except for their loud songs. They have short wings and thin, down-turned bills. Many species hold their tails straight up. All wrens eat insects.

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae

This family includes thrashers and mockingbirds. These birds are famous for their amazing singing, especially their ability to copy the sounds of many other birds and outdoor noises. They usually have dull grey and brown feathers.

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized songbirds from the Old World (Europe, Asia, Africa) with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly, and most live in large groups. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Many species have dark feathers with a shiny, metallic look.

Thrushes and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are a group of songbirds, mostly found in the Old World. They are plump, with soft feathers, and are 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

The Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. These birds mainly eat insects, and many catch their prey while flying.

Old World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small songbirds. They are generally plump, brownish or grayish birds with short tails and strong, short beaks. Sparrows mainly eat seeds, but they also eat 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 birds that eat insects on the ground in open areas.

Finches and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae

Finches are songbirds that eat seeds. They are small to medium-large and have strong beaks, usually shaped like a cone. All finches have twelve tail feathers and nine primary wing feathers. These birds fly in a bouncy way, with flapping and gliding, and most sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds was once thought to be New World sparrows, but they are different in many ways. They are usually found in open grassy areas.

New World Sparrows

Order: Passeriformes Family: Passerellidae

These birds are often called sparrows, but they are not closely related to the Old World sparrows. Many of them have unique patterns on their heads.

Troupials and Allies

Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae

This group includes grackles and New World blackbirds and orioles. They are small to medium-sized, often colorful songbirds found only in the Americas. Most species have black as their main feather color, often brightened with yellow, orange, or red.

New World Warblers

Order: Passeriformes Family: Parulidae

Wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful songbirds found only in the Americas. Most live in trees, but some spend more time on the ground. Most birds in 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 feather colors.

See also

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List of birds of Nunavut Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.