Birds of Alberta with Chris Fisher

Our Alberta landscape has changed dramatically in the last century. We’ve built croplands, reservoirs, landfills, industrial parks, and sprawling suburbs. And California Gulls have looked at all that and said, “Alright. Yeah I can work with this.”California Gulls are treasures among the common gulls of Alberta. They are showy, social and complex. And the way they live, fits perfectly within our Alberta culture.

Merlins are pretty well-known residents of our cities where they thrill us by zooming overhead and preying on swarms of sparrows, finches and waxwings. They are also well-known in rural areas hitting up the swarms of buntings and redpolls that make the southern journey to the prairies. While they occur around the northern areas of the planet, there may be no place better than right here in Alberta to experience the Merlin - our little feathered rockets.

The great looks of Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings pair the French dynasty pompadour with the eye make-up of an Egyptian princess - but for Alberta birders, waxwings are so much more than just great looks. Cedar Waxwings are the iconic bird of our summer months while Bohemian Waxwings are the icon of winter. Both are THE calendar birds of of the province that provide a innate connection to our parks, gardens, yards and forested areas.

American White Pelicans are large birds stand apart from all other birds in the province. They are attention-grabbing, in-your-face, conversation starters that get people talking about nature and as such they are a top influencer among all the Birds of Alberta.

Northern and Loggerhead Shrike are some of our most dynamic songbirds. They come dressed as Mexican Wrestlers and bear the brutality of a MMA fighter. Shrike are some of the most rapacious of the Birds of Alberta and we love them for it.

American Robins are the Spark bird that ignites within us an acknowledgement of the natural world around us and provides an intimacy that simmers within us a love of nature. Robins through the course of our seasons, hold up a mirror to our lives and play a transcendent role among all The Birds of Alberta.