Welcome home to all our migratory birds who left us for the winter, and are returning to us for another amazing summer. One such bird that is returning to us is the Eastern Kingbird. Eastern Kingbirds are a long-distance migrant, flying to BC all the way from countries in South America like Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. That's a long ways, more than 7300km! But they don't take this journey alone. Usually a flock between 10-60 birds is formed for this migratory journey and someti

Today we want to celebrate these big billed birds, especially since most curlew species are at risk, including our very own Long-billed curlew. As a ground laying bird, Long-billed curlew have to be careful of all the potential predators that can disturb them and their nest. Thankfully, the young are ready to go pretty quickly after they hatch. Only a couple hours after these chicks hatch, they are already running around the grasslands, and the nest is abandoned within 24 hou

Today we want to celebrate all the sparrows that bless our backyards and natural areas. There are some species that are part of the New World Sparrow family that you might not know are considered sparrows because it's not in their name. They also don't all give the typical "Little Brown Bird" trope of most sparrows. Here are two examples of New World Sparrows: Dark-eyed junco: These birds will stick around the Okanagan and Similkameen all year long. Their gray, white, and rus

Today is all about being close to family. One family in nature that is definitely celebrating this holiday is Canada Geese. Canada geese have a family that is quite close and protective. Firstly, male and female geese will often mate for life, with only few records of "divorce". These parents are also quite protective of their young. Males will hang around the nest if they sense a threat and they will watch the nest if the female needs to leaves the eggs for a while. And whe

During the winter, its common to see more than mallards in the lakes. Many other waterfowl species can be seen, the problem is that a lot of them have black/white or brown/white colourations. Here are some similar species that can be found and how to ID them: Common Goldeneye: As the name suggests, look for the bright golden eye. The males of this species will also have a white pact between its eye and its beak. The females will have no patches on its face, and instead will h

Did you know that there are 2 subspecies of Northern flickers in Canada. Here, in the west the common one is the Red-shafted variation and more eastern Canada will have the Yellow-shafted subspecies. Here are some clear distinctions between them that can help you tell them apart. First, male flickers will have a "mustache" on their cheeks that is not found on the females. The Red-shafted flicker will have a red mustache while the Yellow-shafted flicker will have a black must