Ontario Winter Birds: for Beginners

A collection of birds I've been admiring each winter:

There's no time like the present to go outside and figure out who your feathery neighbours are. The day I found out that chirping bird sounds weren't just background noise, but instead complex messages, changed MY LIFE! So let's meet some of Ontario's winter all-stars.

Downy or Hairy Woodpecker? That is the ultimate question.

So, Downy woodpeckers are smaller than Hairy woodpeckers. They are around the size of a house sparrow. They're also more abundant in urban areas, have a stubby 'lil beak & have spots on their outer white tail feathers.

Hairy woodpeckers are larger, less common in urban areas, have an all white outer tail & a long AF railroad spike for a beak.

Based on these two images, I am leaning towards them both being a Downy woodpecker due to the tail spots and body / bill size. Both of these birds are missing the red nape on the back of their head which indicates male gender ~ so I am thinking they were females.

Red-tailed hawk: Oh, the brave and honorable. You can ID these birds from the ground by looking up and seeing the red tail feathers. The females are larger than the males, weighing around 3 lbs. They are the most common raptor in our area (southern Ontario) and work tirelessly to find meals.

If you see one, don't make it uncomfortable and have to give up its hunting roost - survival is hard as it is. I spent a lot of time with these birds along the Humber in 2020 and got to know their clockwork behaviours of feeding in the same area around noon.

I even created a reel about their unusual courtship practices.

Northern Cardinal: This beautiful bird does not migrate and instead spends its winters sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the branches because it doesn't molt into a dull plumage. Cardinals can sometimes be caught "kissing" - in the ways that males share seeds to court the female and prove they are able to bring home the bacon.

The females are a more brown or peach-esque colour to help them blend in with the nest and keep the babies safe. These birds are typically monogamous; meanwhile, the males are fiercely territorial in the spring/early summer over nests and will sometimes fight off intruders for hours.

In addition, the females sing specific songs at the nest to give the males an idea of where to bring the food.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker: Terrible name for a bird that doesn't really have a red belly, and instead has a bright red head!

White-breasted Nuthatch: Listen for the nasal-y beeps as they perch upside down on tree trunks and hop along. You'll usually see their heads craned upward. The females look like males but have a grayer cap and less pale, rusty underparts. This male was very eager to collect some seeds from me.

Canadian Geese: That bird you love to hate.

Everything you never needed to know about: SWANS!

Mute Swan: These birds have the distinctive orange bill with a black base and knob. (Pictured above) The knob swells during breeding season and helps to ID the males. They are originally from Europe and were brought over to North America in the 1800's to adorn estates and parks. However, their population exploded and they are considered invasive because they disturb local ecosystems and displace native species. They sound like a hoarse trumpet, hence why they are called "mute."

Trumpeter: This swan has an all black bill with black facial skin at the base. It lacks the yellow under-eye markings that the Tundra swan has. It is the largest native bird to North America. They can weigh up to 25 lbs. and use around 100 yards to take off. They were once endangered but now their population has recovered. This bird stays in Ontario to nest and breed. They make loud, trumpet calls when alarmed.

Tundra: This bird has an entirely black bill except for the small, yellow patch just below its eye. They are smaller than Trumpeter swans. You won't see them in the summer because they go back to the Arctic to breed. Look for them during the winter with their "hoo-hoo-hoo" bugle call.

Short-eared owl: What a spectacular sight to see owls during the winter. Right before sunset is a great time to catch these predators on the hunt.

European Starlings: Have you ever listened to these gurgling, glistening beauties? Here's a fun background story on them. These birds were brought over from Europe by Eugene Schieffelin, a member of the American Acclimatization Society - which aimed to bring plants and birds from the old world of Europe to America to create familiarity. This group thought it would be a good idea to introduce as many of Shakespeare's birds into North America as possible. The starling was one of the birds chosen, even though starlings were apparently only mentioned once in Henry IV Part I.

So, on March 6, 1890 in New York's Central Park, 60 starlings were released in hopes they'd start breeding. It appeared as a cruel plan to do this to the birds in winter, as other attempts had led to dead birds. However, the tiny flock sheltered beneath the eaves of the American Museum of Natural History and survived the winter! Then, they began to breed. They had advantages over other species with their beaks allowing them to pry and probe better. They also could open their bills after pushing them into soil, allowing for foraging of invertebrates. In addition, starling eye placement on the front of its face, allowed them the perfect view for prying and finding insects in colder climates; therefore, they did not need to migrate and ended up taking the best nesting holes during the breeding season. They are known to kick bluebirds, flickers and woodpeckers out of their nest. (Smithsonian)

By 1950, these birds could be found coast-to-coast, north past Hudson Bay and south into Mexico (Scientific American). The U.S. alone has now over 200 million European starlings (BBC). The society was also responsible for releasing house sparrows, java sparrows and skylarks by 1877 (Wellcome Collection).These "good" intentions led to ecological turmoil as Starlings pushed out native species (eastern bluebird) and caused tremendous crop damage (Wellcome Collection)..

We can sit around all day and shame this bird, but at the end of day, it comes down to colonization practices meddling with ecological balance. I also find the resiliency and adaptability of these birds to be something to admire. They are here because we brought them here. They found a way to survive.

American Tree Sparrow: (Spizella Arbor) Also known as the Winter Sparrow - as its the best time to go looking for them. Their name is misleading because they forage and nest on the ground. Sparrows are so hard for me to ID, but with help from Teacher Tom - it has been a bit easier.

American Tree Sparrows have a bicolored bill, a rusty cap and a rusty line through their eyes (unlike the Chipper Sparrow that has white). They also have grey underparts with a small, central, dark spot on their breast (looks like a heart to me!) that helps them stand out. They are plump and long-tailed. They are seen in small flocks, visiting winter backyards, and choosing snow-covered fields around southern Canada.

Once the snow melts, the males will begin singing sweet musical birdsongs in late winter before their northward migration and then they all will begin their migrations back to the breeding grounds in far off tundra.

(NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH THIS ONE - so common it's shameful)

House Sparrow: or English Sparrow (Passer Domestics) These birds are native to Europe, but have now spread to all corners of the world;' therefore, their adaptation follows human civilization. Reading through some bird blogs, I saw a lot of harsh language toward these sparrows and had NO IDEA how invasive they were/are. They are known to be an aggressive species that take over nesting sites, territories and food sources of native birds.

They were imported intentionally in the 1800’s by a bunch of morons in the American Acclimatization Society (read my post above about Starlings). However, House Sparrows are now one of the most common North American birds!

Some say their introduction was done as means of "controlling caterpillar populations" (Salon, 2020). Englishman, Nicolas Pike, initially introduced around 8 pairs in 1851 in Brooklyn, New York that did not thrive and so he later released 25 pairs along the East River (Sialis). These birds were wintered under the care of the Brooklyn Institute and released in 1953. By 1868, The New York Times celebrated the "wonderfully rapid increase in the number of sparrows which were imported from England..." and that they had done..."noble work" by eating the inchworms that infested the city's parks.