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Birds


Living Birds

I’m not a professional birdwatcher equipped with high-end gear and extensive knowledge. I simply observe birds while walking through the city. Nevertheless, seeing birds always brings joy.

Below is a list of birds I’ve seen or heard - mostly in the Greater Vancouver area. Those marked with 🐦 are mainly seen, those with 🎶 are mainly heard, and ❓ means I’m not sure. Of course, this just shows the easiest way to spot each bird. It doesn’t mean we can’t hear the ones we see, or see the ones we hear. However, sometimes it can be tricky seeing the small birds we usually only hear, especially without special equipment or if we are not patient enough.

  • Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 🐦
  • Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 🐦
  • Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 🐦
  • Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 🐦
  • Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 🐦
  • Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 🐦
  • Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 🐦
  • Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 🐦
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) ❓
  • American Coot (Fulica americana) 🐦
  • Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 🐦
  • Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis) 🐦
  • Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 🐦
  • Pelagic Cormorant (Urile pelagicus) 🐦
  • Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 🐦
  • American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 🐦
  • American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 🐦
  • Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) 🐦
  • Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 🐦
  • European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 🐦
  • Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) 🐦
  • Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 🐦
  • House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 🎶
  • Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 🎶
  • White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) 🎶
  • Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) 🎶
  • Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 🎶
  • Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 🎶
  • House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 🎶
  • Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 🎶
  • Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 🎶

Recently Extinct Birds and Mammals

Three categories of extinct animals receive the most attention: dinosaurs, the megafauna of the late Pleistocene (represented by mammoths), and “recently” extinct birds and mammals due to human activities such as geographical discoveries. I’m particularly interested in the last category.

I’m reading related materials like books, scientific papers or webpages, driven by my personal interests. I also maintain a website: Extinction Archives, which is essentially my reading notes, but I strive to make it systematic and comprehensive. Right now, it only has Chinese version.

For this website, my current main goals are:

  • Make the website bilingual, with an English version for each page - 🚧
  • Update the website interface, making it clearer and more information-centered - 🚧