Alberta is one of the provinces that make up the Canadian territory, in this territory, there is a great variety of fauna where the Alberta birds stand out in this area inhabit a large number of bird species, some of them are migratory, the variety includes eagles, different types of songbirds ducks, owls, swallows, geese.
The prevailing climates in this territory favor the habitat of a large number of feathered birds, both north and south of Alberta, as well as the west and east of the province have environmental and climatic conditions that favor the life of these birds throughout the territory.
1. White Partridge
This bird is scientifically known as “Lagopus muta” this is a bird that inhabits tundra climates, in environments where temperatures can be below 0 C its physical appearance varies depending on the season of the year, being white in the winter, and tending to light brown as temperatures increase in the summer.
To protect themselves from the cold weather they have their feet covered with feathers, which they use as thermal insulation.
This partridge inhabits the northern area of Alberta, where they can be seen on the slopes are regularly sighted in the vicinity of Jasper National Park in the province of Alberta, where shrubs abound, commonly seek areas where the grass grows above the snow.
Expert Tip: The diet of the ptarmigan is basically made up of blueberries, berries, sedges, horsetail, and other vegetables, and although when they are at a young age their diet includes a variety of insects, such as spiders, mosquitoes, and even snails.
2. Pardel Partridge
This bird belongs to the Phasianidae family and is a small animal, with body lengths that do not exceed 30 cm, its plumage has a coppery brown color, covered with dark brown spots, and its face has a more orange tone.
It is one of the Alberta birds that inhabit scrublands near the polar regions to the south of this province, being originally from the European continent, it was taken to Canada and the north of the United States as a small game animal, and feeds on seeds, insects from which it obtains the protein it needs for its diet.
These birds live and move in flocks, searching for food in places where the grass is not so high, a situation that allows them to find seeds easily.
3. Greater Prairie Chicken
It is an animal very similar to the domestic hens, where the males have differences with the females of the species, they have an orange area surrounding their eyes, and the plumage on their head is somewhat long, and is characterized because they can deploy it voluntarily, inflating an orange area on their neck when they want to mate.
The females have the plumage of the head shorter and do not have the orange spots of the males.
They are stout-bodied animals and resist the snowfalls common in the Alberta area they inhabit, just like chickens, they have thick legs and short crescent-shaped tails, have an attractive brown and white marbled color and have vegetarian eating habits based on different fruits and seeds.
They also consume different types of insects they find in the bushes.
4. Faisan
It is one of the most beautiful birds that exist it is covered with plumage of attractive and bright colors, which include brown in different shades, golden yellow, red, green, purple, and mottled black, its appearance is slender, it is a slender bird that conveys elegance, with a long tail in colorful plumage.
A male of this species can reach a height of up to 90 cm while females tend to be smaller, reaching heights of just over 60 cm in general they are birds with rounded and small heads, with sharp beaks and light color, with thin legs of a light grayish, have broad but short wings, tend to have vertical flights as if they were helicopters.
And can reach heights of up to 10 meters in flight, and can develop speeds over 60 km/h.
Expert Tip: Their preferred habitat is scrublands, grasslands, and crop fields where they obtain their food source, which is based on seeds, leaves, and fruits as well as insects, worms, and other invertebrates.
5. Canadian Barnacle
Scientific name Branta canadensis, commonly known as Canada Goose, is a bird with a wingspan between 1.2 and 1.8 meters, which can reach lengths of up to 110 cm is one of the species of goose with a large size, in their appearance have a white spot in the form of a stripe.
The plumage that covers its body is brown and becomes lighter towards the central area, being darker towards the tip of its wings, the lower part of its body has a very whitish tone. The barnacle is a bird that adapts very easily to various habitats near water, feeding on vegetables, leaves, stems, roots, and seeds.
6. Canadian Thrush
It is a bird with very attractive color, a grayish with flashes in various shades of brown that allow it to camouflage itself among the vegetation, it has a hard and pointed bill, with a grayish and shiny shade that surrounds its eyes.
It inhabits the swampy and wooded areas of Alberta, and is often seen in the conifers and fir trees common in this area, it is one of the Alberta birds and feeds on berries, snails, crustaceans, aquatic and terrestrial insects such as crickets, grasshoppers and other species, it also eats fish, seeds, and small reptiles.
These birds make their nests with branches and grasses, using lichens and covering the inside with mud collected from the ground, and topping it with decomposing grasses.
7. Sergeant Thrush
The sergeant is one of the most beautiful birds in North America, it has an intense and shiny black plumage, in the males, a spot on the wings stands out in yellow and a very striking red, it is a robust and slender bird with a powerful pointed and thin beak, which allows them to penetrate the plants in search of food.
Expert Tip: The female is easily differentiated since its feathers are of a less intense color, which tends to be brown, they inhabit places with abundant humidity, and their nesting is done in the trees that are close to the waters.
They basically feed on insects, seeds, and various types of grains.
8. White-crowned Sparrow
Of the Alberta birds, this is a small-sized bird characterized by its plumage under its bill being white, with white spots on the upper part of its eyes, where it also has a yellow eyespot towards the beginning of its short bill.
Its body exhibits a gray coloration with wings and tail in shades of light brown, dark brown, black, and some white spots, its tail is long compared to its body, its diet is based on fruits, grains, and seeds, also including a variety of insects. The preferred habitat of the white-throated grosbeak is in thickets, grasslands, and wooded slopes.
9. Aura Gallipavo
This is a bird belonging to the vulture species, scientifically it is known as Cathartes aura, it is an animal that has a redhead with no feathers, in its body, it has black plumage with some shades of brown to white on the edges of the feathers of its wings and tail.
As for its size, it is considered a large bird, with a wingspan that can measure up to 1.83 meters and its body can be up to 80 cm long, and its body weight can exceed 2 kg.
It lives in many parts of America, especially in the northern and southern territories of Alberta, and feeds on carrion, which is easily obtained thanks to its developed sense of smell, which allows it to detect the odors of decomposing animals at great distances.
10. American White Pelican
This pelican is a bird of imposing appearance, its wingspan is one of the largest reaching 1.8 meters, and can weigh up to 13 kg, its body is completely covered with white plumage, with black feathers at the ends of its wings.
They have a peculiar, long, and strong beak that has a kind of orange pouch under it which they use when they feed, they gather in groups to get their food, which is composed of crustaceans, mollusks, and a variety of fish, such as carp, salmon and trout.
In Alberta, they gather in colonies for nesting, also in Forth Smith where they seek the cool waters of the bays, mangroves, and marshes.
11. Golden Eagles
One of the birds of prey with a great wingspan, reaching up to 2.20 meters and body size of up to 90 cm and can have weights up to 4 kg its tail reaches a length similar to half the length of its wings and has a thick white line.
The plumage of this imposing bird is of a brown color that tends to golden in the part of the neck, and the superior part of the head, in its wings the tonality of color varies, being of a lighter brown towards the tips, arriving to be almost white.
This eagle has a curved and strong beak, as well as its claws, inhabits in high altitude areas, in tundra areas such as the climate of Alberta, where they frequent in grasslands, and in the abundant forests of conifers, is a bird that develops great speeds that easily reach 320 km/h.
Expert Tip: They feed on antelopes, small reindeer, sheep, hares, squirrels, foxes, and adapt to the types of prey they usually find in their habitat.
12. Crows
They are the birds with more presence globally, with great presence in the Alberta tundra, they are observed in places such as cliffs, rocky terrain, plains, and weeds, commonly inhabit urban areas.
It is a bird of a very peculiar appearance, being the classic bird of black plumage and an aspect that many consider tenebrous, because they associate it with bad omens, in size it can be considered a large bird, it can measure up to 70 cm from head to tail.
The males of this species can have wingspans of up to 1.6 meters, while the females reach up to 1.38 meters, they are birds that have black up to the beak, which is strong and curved.
Crows feed mostly on animals, smaller birds, amphibians, amphibians, arthropods, smaller mammals, and reptiles, although they also feed on fruits, grains, and seeds.
13. American Robin
Another of the Alberta birds, a funny little bird with a graceful and amusing body, tends to be rounded with a bulky abdomen, thin legs, and a round head, with a short and very thin bill.
One of the most striking features of this little bird is the reddish-yellow plumage on its breast and part of the head bordering its eyes and bill, its back tail and wings are of a grayish plumage with light-brown tones, and its central part tends to be white.
Robins feed on berries, fruits, insects, and worms, and frequent open areas where they forage on the ground and in small trees. Throughout the province of Alberta, these birds can be seen, especially in early spring, which they announce with their graceful presence and song.
14. Ampelis Chinito
This is an exotic bird, with plumage in its body of a light-brown color that tends to gray, with the end of its darker wings and white edges, with some red and white spots, the feathers of its tail have light yellow ends, and its central area also presents a yellow tonality.
The preferred habitat of these Alberta birds is the forests where conifers abound, meadows with shrubs, and where they have water nearby.
They feed on dogwoods, juniper, hawthorns, raspberries, strawberries, strawberry trees, arbutus, apple trees, mistletoe, blackberries, serval also eat insects such as worms that hide in stems and foliage and while flying, like beetles, mayflies, dragonflies, etc.
15. Canadian Duck
It is a palmiped bird, which is called Blue-winged Teal that remains in the areas of Alberta during the winters, has a beautiful appearance with a bright plumage of brownish color in different shades throughout its body, presenting on its wings white feathers and a very striking emerald green outlined in black.
An attractive feature of this duck is a white arc that surrounds the front part of its face, and that goes in front of its eyes to where its beak begins, its ventral area tends to be golden with lighter brown shades, its black beak stands out with its white mask.
Expert Tip: Their preferred areas are lakes, marshes, and other wetlands, where they forage for food, based on clams, snails, crustaceans, grains, and a diversity of aquatic insects.
16. Spring Blackbird
It is a bird with a round body, which has a basic feature and is the color of the chest and side area, which is a very striking copper color, its head, wings, and tail are dark gray, have long legs and tail.
They feed on fruits such as juniper berries, cherries, pineapples, and a variety of invertebrate animals, earthworms, terrestrial and aquatic insects, snails, smaller snakes, small shrews.
This bird inhabits habitat in southern Alberta and is sighted in many parts of the Americas, preferring to hop in grassy areas where they forage for insects and seeds. This bird likes the tundra climate, so it frequents forests with trees.
17. Great Horned owl
It is an animal feared by others, it has a very aggressive behavior with its prey, its appearance is vigorous and beautiful, the plumage has many shades of brown to beige, with white spots, on its head are observed on each side feathers that look like antlers, hence its name.
It feeds on rabbits, hares, porcupines, hawks, different types of snakes, and skunks, it hunts at the end of the day and at night, taking advantage of its acute senses of vision and hearing. Its habitat is streams, coniferous forests, and open fields where it can roam freely. Since May 1977, this bird has been the emblem of Alberta.
18. Hudson’s Magpie
Among the Alberta birds, this one is known by the scientific name of “pica hudsonia” the appearance of this bird of a medium-sized bird, with a very long tail and a rounded body, which stands out for a combination of different blues in its plumage, which are combined with black and white.
Expert Tip: This magpie can have a size between its head and tail of up to 60 cm have large wings, the wingspan of this bird can reach 21 cm.
This magpie feeds on berries, garbage, pet yard food, eggs, nuts, rodents, and seeds, inhabiting places from Alaska to southern Alberta province, where it forages for trees in open fields.
19. Black-headed ibis
It is a small bird characterized by a large head, which is black to the neck with white spots on the sides below the eyes, its wings and tail are gray, with a very pale light brown belly.
It usually inhabits the forests of Alberta and birch thickets and frequents bird feeders very common in this Canadian territory, its diet is based on spiders, peanut seeds, sunflower seeds, and weevils.
20. Goldeneye
This bird is a diving duck that has a black head and back with some greenish and shiny shades, and its neck and lower and ventral parts are snow-white, its most striking feature is the color of its eyes, they are golden yellow.
The Goldeneye is a large bird measuring about 46 cm from head to tail, the Barrow species has a more brownish color on the head and back, and its wings are gray with a white belly. They feed on invertebrates, fish eggs, small fish, various vegetables, and small fish, and during breeding time, they prefer aquatic insects.
21. Cassin’s Bullfinch
This nice bird has an attractive combination of colors in its plumage, the male has a head covered with a reddish plumage, its back is a dark brown color, with its feathers bordered with white and the lower area of its body has a very pale brown plumage that tends to white with dark spots.
Expert Tip: The female is smaller, and its body and head are brown, showing a lighter coloration on the chest and belly with brown spots.
22. Bald Eagle
It is a large bird of prey, the wingspan can reach 2.5 meters, it is an animal of an imposing appearance, its head, neck, and tail are covered with beautiful white plumage and its body and wings of a blackish brown color in different shades, its beak and legs are of orange color that contrasts with the other colors of its body.
It inhabits all areas of North America and feeds on different prey, but prefers to feed on fish, including salmon and trout, and also eats dead animals, whales, seals, and other species of marine animals.
23. Hairy Woodpecker Bird
It is another of the Alberta birds of great attractiveness, its surprising combination of black and white colors with its scarlet topknot, give it a great attractiveness, its head and wings are black with white spots, and its chest and belly are completely white.
They have a sharp, sharp beak, with which they pierce trees to search for insects under the bark to feed.
24. Northern Clarion
Known scientifically as “Myadestes townsendi” it is a slender bird, which has a tail as long as its body, the appearance of its plumage has a grayish coloration, darker on the wings with flashes of white.
It has a very short, dark beak and large, dark eyes bordered with a white ring. Its diet is based on berries and other types of fruit, and it also eats spiders, bugs, beetles, ants, caterpillars, and other insects.
25. Chordeiles Minor
It is a bird of a peculiar plumage of grayish-brown coloration with golden spots all over the body, it has gray tones, and all its plumage is very bright, it is a bird with large dark eyes, which feeds on insects, seeds, and some fruits.
The avian fauna of the Canadian province of Alberta is very rich, and varied, from small finches to large birds of prey, they make up the Alberta birds that enrich and brighten parks, forests, lakes and streams, and urban areas.
