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List of birds of Yukon facts for kids

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Welcome to a cool list of birds found in Yukon, a territory in Canada! This list shows all the different kinds of birds that have been seen and recorded there. The information comes from the Yukon Bird Club (YBC). As of 2021, there were 348 different bird species on this list.

Some birds are seen often, but others are quite rare! Here's what the special tags next to some bird names mean:

  • (C) Casual - These birds have been seen at least twice, but not every single year.
  • (A) Accidental - These birds have only been seen once in Yukon. They are very rare visitors!
  • (I) Introduced - These birds were brought to Yukon (or North America) by people, not by nature.

The birds are listed in a special order, following the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds from the American Ornithological Society (AOS). This helps scientists keep track of them.

Ducks, Geese, and Waterfowl

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

This family includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds love water! They have webbed feet to help them swim and special feathers that shed water easily. Their bills are often flat, which helps them find food in the water.

Pheasants, Grouse, and Allies

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

This family includes pheasants and grouse. They are ground-dwelling birds, usually plump with short, wide wings. Many of these birds are hunted for sport or raised for food.

Grebes

Podilymbus-podiceps-001
Pied-billed grebe

Order: Podicipediformes   Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are freshwater diving birds. They are amazing swimmers and divers thanks to their lobed toes. 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 birds with sturdy bodies, short necks, and thin bills. They eat seeds, fruit, and plants. A cool fact: both parents produce "crop milk" to feed their young.

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 short bills. Their soft feathers help them blend in with 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.

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Trochilidae

Hummingbirds are tiny birds famous for hovering in mid-air. They flap their wings incredibly 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 dense plants near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They are often shy and hard to spot. Most have strong legs and long toes, but they are not 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, unlike herons. Many cranes have fancy and loud dances to attract mates.

Stilts and Avocets

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Recurvirostridae

This family includes avocets and stilts. They are large wading birds. Avocets have long legs and bills that curve upwards. Stilts have super long legs and long, thin, straight bills.

Plovers and Lapwings

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

This family includes plovers, dotterels, 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

UplandSandpiperOntarioCropped
Upland sandpiper

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

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

Skuas and Jaegers

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Stercorariidae

Skuas and Jaegers are medium to large birds, often grey or brown. They look like big, dark gulls but have a hooked bill. They are strong, agile fliers.

Auks, Murres, and Puffins

Uria lomvia1
Thick-billed murre

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Alcidae

Alcids look a bit like penguins with their black and white colors and upright stance. But unlike penguins, they can fly! Auks live on the open sea and only come to land to nest.

Gulls, 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 bills and webbed feet.

Loons

Order: Gaviiformes   Family: Gaviidae

Loons are aquatic birds, about the size of a large duck. They are mostly grey or black with spear-shaped bills. Loons are excellent swimmers and flyers, but they are very awkward on land because their legs are at the back of their bodies.

Northern Storm-Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: 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 fluttering, almost like a bat.

Shearwaters and Petrels

Order: Procellariiformes   Family: Procellariidae

These are medium-sized "true petrels." They have nostrils that are joined together and a long outer primary feather.

Cormorants and Shags

Order: Suliformes   Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are medium to large water birds, usually dark-colored. They have long, thin, hooked bills and webbed feet with four toes.

Pelicans

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds known for the big 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.

New World Vultures

Order: Cathartiformes   Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures are scavengers, meaning they eat dead animals. They look like Old World vultures but are not closely related. 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

Ospreys are fish-eating birds of prey. They have a large, strong, hooked beak for tearing meat, powerful legs, sharp talons, and excellent eyesight. This family has only one type of bird.

Hawks, Eagles, and Kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

This family includes hawks, eagles, kites, and harriers. These birds of prey have very large, strong, hooked beaks, powerful legs, sharp talons, and keen eyesight. They use these tools to catch and tear apart their prey.

Owls

Order: Strigiformes   Family: Strigidae

Typical owls are mostly solitary birds of prey that hunt at night. They have large eyes that face forward and big ears. They also 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, long, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. They are known for diving into water to catch fish.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks. They have stiff tails and 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. They are birds of prey that hunt during the day. Unlike hawks and eagles, falcons kill their prey with their beaks, not their talons.

Tyrant Flycatchers

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, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis

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 stronger bills.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are songbirds known for a unique habit: they catch other birds and small animals and impale them on thorns. Their 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. Some of the bigger species are very smart!

Tits, Chickadees, and Titmice

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Paridae

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

Larks

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Alaudidae

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

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

Swallows are birds that are great at catching food while flying. They have slender bodies, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide mouth. Their feet are better for perching than walking.

Leaf Warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Phylloscopidae

Leaf warblers are a family of small insect-eating birds. They are mostly found in Europe and Asia. The Arctic warbler breeds as far east as Alaska. They come in various sizes and colors, often green and yellow.

Kinglets

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Regulidae

Kinglets are a small family of birds that look like titmice. They are very tiny birds that eat insects. The adults have colorful crowns, 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 wing feathers that look like sealing wax. These birds 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: they can climb down trees headfirst! Other birds 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, curved bills that they use to pull insects from tree bark. Their stiff tail feathers help them support themselves on vertical trees.

Wrens

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Troglodytidae

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

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Mimidae

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

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized songbirds with strong feet. They fly strongly and directly, and most live in large groups. They prefer open areas and eat insects and fruit. Some species have dark, shiny feathers.

Dippers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cinclidae

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

Thrushes and Allies

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 feeding on the ground. Many have beautiful songs.

Old World Flycatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Muscicapidae

Old World flycatchers are a large family of small songbirds. They are mostly small birds that live in trees and eat insects, often catching them in mid-air.

Accentors

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Prunellidae

Accentors are small, plain birds with thin, sharp bills. They look a bit like sparrows but are not related. They are native to Europe and Asia and only rarely appear in North America.

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 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, Euphonias, and Allies

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 and most sing well.

Longspurs and Snow Buntings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Calcariidae

This group of songbirds was once thought to be part of 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 group. Before 2017, the New World sparrows were also part of this family.

  • Rustic bunting, Emberiza rustica (A)

New World Sparrows

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 them have unique patterns on their heads.

Troupials and Allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Icteridae

Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful songbirds found only in the Americas. This family includes grackles, New World blackbirds, and orioles. Most species are mainly black, often with bright yellow, orange, or red colors.

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 live more 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. The males and females often have different colored feathers.

See also

  • List of birds
  • Lists of birds by region
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List of birds of Yukon Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.