So… What constitutes a pleasant morning for you when on a vacation? For me, a bright sunny morning with its freshness and melodious chirruping of the birds is enough to make my morning. It seems as if someone has especially sent them to wake me up. I love to have my morning tea and secretly watch these birds playing around.

The best thing is that we can see these lovely small birds everywhere. They might be sitting over a tree branch, resting over your window, playing over your balcony, or simply roaming over the sky.

Do you know Ontario, a Canadian Province offers you a plethora of common species of birds? Each one of these has something unique and alluring to showcase. While I cannot describe them all, let me introduce to you these small birds of Ontario!

1. Northern Cardinal

Ever played Angry Birds? If yes, then you must be familiar with that angry young bird named Red. Yes! the red one. Well, that character is inspired by a real bird named the Northern Cardinal. They are identified through the characteristic crest on top of their head and bear a strong cone-shaped beak (coral coloured) with brown iris. It commonly feeds on sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, millets, and peanuts, so remember to carry some!

2. Blue Jays

Birds do gossip too! And blue jays are a classical example of this. These small birds having a garrulous nature belong to the group of Passerines. Blue jays are popular for their predominant blue plumage with colours ranging from lavender-blue to mid-blue with a white face and chest, the neck is coloured in black plumage. To feed them, you must carry corn, grains, acorns, sunflower seeds, beech mast, berries, or bread.

3. Black-Capped Chickadee

The black-capped chickadee is a puffy, small bird and is very friendly and accustomed to humans. They are described as songbirds found in North America and are very neighbourly species of southern Ontario. You can recognize them by their features, the body is white with short and rounded wings, a black bib with a greyish back, and a tail. During summer, the Black-capped chickadee feeds upon insects largely while they depend upon seeds and berries during winter, so carry the food as per your need.

4. Mourning Dove

Have you ever heard the phrase “Simple yet elegant”? I would describe the Mourning dove like this. The Mourning doves, also known as the ‘rain doves’ or the ‘turtle doves’ are similar in appearance. You can distinguish them by looking at their rounded head and a long slender tail with dark gracious eyes which are in absolute contrast to the rest of the body. The plumage appears greyish brown with elliptical and grey wings also showing black spots. They will literally surround you if you feed them millets, sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, pine nuts, canary grass, and wheat, so carry some!

5. American Robin

The reason you will love exploring these migratory songbirds is that they are known to be one of the earliest birds to sing at dawn, hence you have the perfect opportunity to wake up with their chirping. Generally, you can spot them by their yellow bill with a dark tip. Also, do you know that an American robin may hunt by listening? (remembers me of the movie “Don’t Breathe”), it also uses its olfactory sense along with the auditory and visual sense for hunting, and they do not fear storms, they even sing while the storm approaches and also when it passes, the American robin is truly a savage bird, isn’t it?

6. White-Breasted Nuthatch

The White-breasted nuthatch is a very lively bird which you can find in deciduous forests, woodlands like mountain pine-oak, riverside, and even in residential complexes, parks, and yards or a bird feeder inside your garden. You can distinguish the White-breasted nuthatch by its strong bill along with a short tail. To feed them, you can carry insects like ants, plant lice, caterpillars, and pest species like oystershells, while the seeds they consume are sunflower seeds, nuts, suet, and more.

7. Downy Woodpecker

Let me tell you about the drummers of the bird kingdom, the Woodpeckers! By just reading “woodpecker” your mind must have imagined those tiny yet fast-moving birds that can peck at a speed of about 20 times/sec. The woodpecker closely resembles the hairy woodpecker, though they do not share any close relations. The woodpecker has a white chest and belly along with a black tail and the outer feathers are white-locked with some black feathers. So lookout for these features when bird-watching!

8. Red-Winged Blackbird

What an unambiguous name! A bird that is black and has red wings, simple. But not only this, the bird has got some interesting things to share. While the male Red-winged blackbird shows its characteristic red-orange shoulder patch while flying, the female is duller in appearance than the male (brownish) and does not possess the distinctive red patch. You must remember that these birds are omnivorous, although their primary source of food includes seeds like safflower and sunflower seeds, grains like corn, and rice, also they feed upon blackberries, blueberries, and other fruits.

9. House Sparrow

Who doesn’t know about sparrows? Though the house sparrows are common birds, native to the Middle East, it has reached almost all over the world either as an introductory species or maybe by natural migration, their high dispersal is due to their easily getting accustomed to humans and also due to their active immune health. You can easily find a house sparrow in Southern Canada as it has become a common species now. They are not choosy when it comes to eating food! Yes, you can offer them any eatable food and they will eat happily.

10. Dark-Eyed Junco

The dark-eyed junco is a small puffy bird coming under the group of New World sparrows and is much related to fox sparrows. Dark-eyed juncos are migratory birds and tend to migrate south during winters, especially the species from southern Canada and Alaska. The dark-eyed juncos breed inside nests, well hidden by vegetation, but you may find them upon lower tree branches or dense shrubs. They primarily depend upon seeds as their principal diet and rarely are seen eating insects. You can attract them by offering safflower seeds, sunflower seeds, corn, and more.

“Oh! how cute they are” or “I want to have one”– Don’t tell me that these things didn’t come to your mind while reading this article. Maybe you loved how puffy and round-shaped a black-capped chickadee is. Are you still wondering about the garrulous nature of the blue jay or how angry the Northern cardinal looks? Keep the excitement level up and spot all these while enjoying bird-watching in Canada.

FAQs

1. What are the common birds in Ontario?

Ans. Downy Woodpeckers are common birds in Ontario. 

2. What are the grey-coloured small birds in Ontario?

Ans. Those are the Black-capped Chickadee grey-coloured small birds in Ontario.

3. What is the smallest bird in Ontario?

Ans. Calliope Hummingbird is the smallest bird in Ontario. 

Last Updated on April 10, 2024 by Pragya Chakrapani