Bird Watching in the Rocky Mountains
Photo by Marcel Finnigan
Clark's Nutcracker
Photo by Scott Rowed
Bird watching in the Rocky Mountains is a great way to experience the great outdoors, do some hiking and breathe in that fresh mountain air. What kinds of birds await you? Well, there are apparently over 300 different species here in the various life zones of the Rockies according to The Compact Guide to BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES by Geoffrey L. Holroyd and Howard Coneybeare. I would recommend this great liitle guide book because it provides you with great detailed paintings of 130 different species and can easily be slipped into any backpack or even pocket!!
This handy little book even gives a "Bird Checklist", where you can check how common these birds are in Waterton, Banff, Jasper Kootenay and Yoho National Park and Kananaskis Country as well as which season you are most likely to see them in.
Here is a list of the birds mentioned in this pocket book and where they can often be found:
NAME COMMON HABITAT American Coot Larger Lakes American Crow Montane Zone American Kestrel Wetlands American Redstart Shrublands/Wetlands/Avalanche Slopes American Robin Deciduous Forests American Wigeon Montane Lakes Bald Eagle Soaring over Mountain Lakes Bank Swallow Wetlands Barn Swallow Wetlands Barrow’s Goldeneye Lakes & Ponds up to Treeline/Large Rivers Belted Kingfisher Wetlands Black Swift Canyons near Spray Black-billed Magpie Townsites/Near Highways Black-capped Chickadee Deciduous Forests Blue Grouse Open Spruce Forests Blue-winged Teal Wetlands Bohemian Waxwing Montane/Wetlands Boreal Chickadee Subalpine/Coniferous Forests Boreal Owl Subalpine/Coniferous Forests Brewer's Sparrow Alpine Meadows Brewer’s Blackbird Montane/Wetlands Brown Creeper Lower Subalpine/Coniferous Forests Brown-headed Cowbird Grasslands/Shrublands Bufflehead Small Ponds/Wetlands Calliope Hummingbird Montane Grasslands Canada Goose Montane Lakes Chipping Sparrow Montane/Coniferous Forests Clark’s Nutcracker Coniferous Forests Common Goldeneye Open Rivers Common Loon Montane Lakes Common Merganser Rivers, Lakes, Streams Common Raven Montane/Nesting:Cliffs, Rocks Common Redpoll Wet Coniferous Forests Common Snipe Wetlands Common Yellowthroat Wetlands Dark-eyed Junco Deciduous/Coniferous Forests Dipper Mountain Rivers/Streams Eastern Kingbird Wetlands Evening Grosbeak Wetlands Fox Sparrow Subalpine/Treeline Golden Eagle Over Columbia Icefield/Kananaskis Lakes Golden-crowned Kinglet Lower Subalpine/Spruce Forests Golden-crowned Sparrow Alpine Meadows Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Alpine Meadows Gray Jay Coniferous Subalpine Forest Great Gray Owl Coniferous Forests Great Horned Owl Coniferous Forests Green-winged Teal Montane Lakes Hairy Woodpecker Deciduous/Coniferous Forests Hammonds’s Flycatcher Wetlands Harlequin Duck Wet Shrublands, Streams and Rivers Hooded Merganser Lakes/Ponds Horned Lark Alpine Meadows Killdeer Marshes/Wetlands Least Flycatcher Wetlands Lesser Scaup Rivers, Lakes, Streams Lincoln's Sparrow Wetlands MacGillivray’s Warbler Shrublands Mallard Montane Lakes Mountain Bluebird Deciduous/Coniferous Forests (near Treeline) Mountain Chickadee Montane Coniferous Forests Northern Flicker Deciduous Forests Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk) Meadows/Marshlands Northern Hawk Owl Coniferous Forests Northern Pintail Wetlands/Ponds/Lakes Northern Pygmy Owl Coniferous Forests Olive-sided Flycatcher Wetlands Orange-crowned Warbler Shrublands Osprey Wetlands Pine Grosbeak Coniferous Forests Pine Siskin Montane/Subalpine Coniferous Forests Pintail Montane Lakes Red Crossbill Coniferous Forests (Lake Louise/Maigne) Red-breasted Nuthatch Coniferous Forests Red-necked Grebe Montane Lakes Redstart Shrublands Red-winged Blackbird Wetlands Ring-billed Gull Open Lakes Ring-necked Duck Deep Montane Lakes Rosy Finch Cliffs, Rocks Ruby-crowned Kinglet Coniferous Forests Ruffed Grouse Deciduous Forests Rufous Hummingbird Montane/Willow Marshes/Forests Sharp-shinned Hawk Cliffs, Rocks Snow Bunting Fields/Meadows/Road & Railway Tracks Song Sparrow Wetlands/Willow Shrublands Spotted Sandpiper Near Lakes/Streams Spruce Grouse Moist Spruce Forests Steller’s Jay Coniferous Forests Swainson’s Thrush Coniferous Forests Tennessee Warbler Shrublands Three-toed Woodpecker Montane/Low Subalpine Coniferous Forests Townsend’s Solitaire Open Coniferous Forests Townsend’s Warbler Coniferous Forests Tree Swallow Forests near Wetlands Tundra Swan Larger Montane Lakes Varied Thrush Coniferous Forests Water Pipit Alpine Meadows Waterthrush (Warbler) Shrublands/Coniferous Forests Western Grebe Larger Lakes Western Tanager Douglas Fir Forests White-crowned Sparrow Wet Shrublands White-tailed Ptarmigan Alpine White-throated Sparrow Montane Zone (rare) White-winged Crossbill Coniferous Forests (Lake Louise/Maigne) Willow Ptarmigan Alpine (Jasper) Wilson’s Warbler Shrublands Winter Wren Moist Subalpine Fir Forests in the Main Ranges Yellow Warbler Wetlands Yellow-rumped Warbler Deciduous Forests