Birds of Alberta with Chris Fisher

Killdeer are birds that are aggressively tolerant with a parenting instinct that is so strong it can override many of the stressors that they inevitably face when nesting in in open and highly disturbed areas. They have, in a strange way –the perfect temperament for success to thrive in modern Alberta. That may be one of the reasons, Killdeer are among the most encountered among all the Birds of Alberta.

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.

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.

The Snowy Owl is a bird unlike no other in Alberta. Known for both its unequalled cuteness and rawness in tooth and claw, but there is something else that makes them a singular focus for us birders and non-birders alike during the Alberta winter. Snowy Owls have become a symbol that acts as our antidote to the gravity of winter.

Alberta’s triumphant Trumpeter Swans have come to represent through the past century a story that blends conservation, admiration and beauty to all of us who find promise and purpose in the Birds of Alberta.