Birds

Websites

• Cornell Lab - All about birds (online bird guide)

• UBC E-Fauna - Electronic Atlas of the Wildlife in British Columbia

• Atlas of Breeding Birds of British Columbia 

• Birds Canada - Breeding Atlases (BC and other provinces)

• BC Ecosystem and Species Explorer

• Ebird - Explorer (find species distribution or species within a region)  

• Breeding Bird Atlas - Zotero Library
  - has a large variety of resources and sources on birds and their ecology

• WORMS - World Register of Marine Species 
  

 

 

Nesting

• Nestwatch - website with lots of resources around nesting and nest-boxes, including bulilding plans

• Atlas of Breeding Birds of British Columbia  

• Bird Eggs of Canada - Royal Saskatechewan Museum

• Identification Guide: Medium- to Large-sized Stick Nests Found in Forested Habitats within the Southern Interior of British Columbia

 

 

 

 

Banding 

• USGS - Species Table and Recommended Band Sizes

•  USGS - Banded Bird Encounter - Reporting Page - page where you can report bands you have found, dead birds with bands or banded birds you have seen if you could read the band number (Bonus: you get a certificate for each report)

 

Conservation 

• Important Bird Areas (IBA) Canada

• Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Official Website)

• Pacific Flyway Council - Migratory Bird Management  

• WHSRN - Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (Official Website)

• Gov of Canada - Species at Risk Registry

• EIRS Biodiversity   

 

Organizations

• Birds Canada (variety of research, projects and info around birds and conservation in Canada)
  

• Audubon Society (bird research, conservation)

• Rocky Point Observatory (Victoria, Vancouver Island BC)
  

• Iona Island Bird Observatory (Vancouver, BC)

• Vancouver Avian Research Center
  

 

Bird names

• IOC World Bird List

• Institute for Bird Populations - Standardized 4 and 6 Letter codes
  

 

 

Quizlet - Bird ID Practice

• Raptors and Owls of the Lower Mainland

• Waterfowl of the Lower Mainland
  

Field-Guides

J. Alderfer - National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition

Currently the best Bird-ID book I know. It relies on drawings and is very detailed and well organized. Very handy are integrated bookmarks for main bird groups.

 D.A. Sibley: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America

The first Edition of the field guide and my favorite for beginners. Well done drawings and well structured.

D.A. Sibley: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America - Second Edition

The second edition of the field guide is very good in terms of drawings. Many of the distribution maps have errors and are not reliable.

R.T. Peterson - Peterson Field Guide To Birds Of Western North America, Fifth Edition

A classic in the field-guide section. I use it in combination with Sibley's Field Guide. I really like the pages that provide a comparison of – for example – geese or raptors in flight.

  

Bird ID Apps

Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab (free)

Merlin Bird ID has a bunch of cool features like sound ID and picture ID.
You can download species list for different regions and continents. In this way it is one of the most comprehensive birding apps available at this point.
However, the app relies on pictures and pictures are not the best tool for ID – they can
be an additional tool but not great for classic ID. Merlin is a great add on in addition to a
classic ID-app or book with drawings.

CAUTION:
The sound ID is a nice feature, but never solely rely on the feature. It sometimes throws out birds, that are highly unlikely to be in the area. However, it is a nice tool to get an idea what you could possibly find in the area.
Combine the findings of the sound-Id feature with your eyes, a good field guide and you will definitely find this app a good companion.

Relies on Cell-connection for photo- and sound-ID.

iNaturalist (free)

Is a great tool to ID all kinds of plants, birds, insects etc. along with keeping a list of what
you have found. It also relies on pictures and on citizen science.
Careful with the ID’s not all of them are actually correct.

Relies on cell-connection for ID!

Audubon Bird Guide (free)

This bird guide also relies mostly on pictures.The great feature of it is the extensive background information provided through the Audubon Society and their information portals.

Sibley Birds - ($19.99 Google Play/ 24.99 Apple Store)

This is the Book Field Guide as App. I still have the first edition and love it – it is my go-to birding app and provides the drawings along with call-samples for each species. Sadly, the first version is no longer available in the app-stores.
 

I do not know how the second edition plays out – the graphics look great but again the distribution maps are faulty as in the Edition 2 of the book version.
It is a one-time download and does not rely on cell-connection for database access.

iBird Ultimate - (subscription $6.99) or
iBird Pro Guide to Birds - (free for first month, then 1.29$/ month or a yearly subscription) - Iphone and Ipad only!

I have the older version iBird “Ultimate”, which was a one-time purchase.
Now you also can get the “Pro-Version” for North America, which is basically the same. However, the published made it now a subscription rather than a one-time purchase.

I use it mostly in combination with the Sibley app - especially for the extensive background and ecology information it provides. It does use drawings for the ID, which tend to be more accurate. 

Like Sibley’s it is a one-time download and does not require cell-connection for information and ID. I love the app and you can purchase in-app extensions for other countries. However, extensions are limited and not as comprehensive as Merlin.
Test the app for a month – if you don’t like it throw it out.

Collins Bird Guide - One time purchase $19.99

BIRD ID FOR EUROPE
Is a fairly new bird-ID app, that I have not yet tested.
It only has birds of Europe so far and is to my knowledge the only comprehensive bird-ID app for Europe with drawings and extensive information. I will try it in April when I go to Germany.

From the screen-shots I have seen so far, it looks well done and relies on drawn ID-pictures rather than photos.