I saw 4 chickadees today!!

[pearlD]

Has anyone else seen them in Toronto (Annex area)?
Isn't this rather early and particularly because the weather has been so good in July....

[ravynne40]

I have seen chickadees all summer long at Marie Curtis Park and north of it. Some stay all year around I have been told.

[JW Mills]

There are chickadees at Smythe Park as well.

[pearlD]

I didn't realise that some Chickadees stay here all summer..I always think of them as the first sign of winter so that's why I was so surprised to see them in my backyard.  Are there any other Birds (common to Toronto) that stay here year round?  I know about Robins, Cardinals, Goldfinches and Sparrows...what else stays here?

[ravynne40]

My knowledge of winter birds and summer birds is limited, so I can't really say which ones stay and which go, like hawks, some migrate, some don't and some even nest here successfully, I guess it boils down to how much food is there for them.

There is a list of arrival dates a the top of the screen, but no departure lists
Someone mentioned earlier that the fall migration has already started, not sure which birds have already started flying south (the person didn't specify) I know that in September there are hawk watches all over too and those are fun to part-take in. One can learn alot about birds from the senior birders that come out to the watches.

Irene

[Cody]

Are there any other Birds (common to Toronto) that stay here year round?  I know about Robins, Cardinals, Goldfinches and Sparrows...what else stays here?

Canada Goose, Mallards, Wild Turkeys, Great Blue Herons, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Doves, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Pileated, Hairy, Downy, Flickers, Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, American Robin, Northern Mockingbirds, some Song Sparrows, House Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, American Goldfinches.  Those are all I can find, I went through my OFO Ontario Bird Checklist 2008.

[Leslie]

I'm surprised starlings aren't on the list of Toronto's year-round residents.

Shorebirds start migrating early.  They have a long way to go.  Apparently they start leaving James Bay & the Arctic in July.  We wouldn't expect to see them here (Toronto) yet.

According to this morning's phone call from Algonquin Pare (& the one two days before that) the Confusing Fall Warblers are really in evidence up there.

Warblers don't travel in the same waves they do in spring.  Adults leave first, then the young, and they all dawdle.  For the loons, unsuccessful breeders leave before parents.  (Info in the 3 preceding sentences from Algonquin Park naturalists--aren't they wonderful?)  Ducks leave late, since they can feed until/almost until the lakes freeze.

It's hard to keep track of birds leaving.  I tried this winter to record every time I saw a junco in the back yard, so that I would have some idea of when these birds left, and I still missed it.

I'm pretty sure chickadees nest here (High Park are).  I heard territorial songs earlier this spring/summer, & now I'm hearing the familiar chickadee call.  Nothing in the middle, but that's consistent with nesting chickadees.

[Axeman]

I grew up in Port Credit (Mississauga) and remember chickadees being present during the summer.

I wasn't aware that wild turkeys were around in the GTA. (I know they are around Caledon)

[Raven11:11]

we live 5 minutes from Humber Arb in North Etob, and rarely see them in our yard. Mostly in winter, probably due to an easy food source ... however we did have a very young one fly into our yard a few weeks back.  

We have a jar filled with water - 50% - and dug into the ground beneath our sunflower plants - to trap the bugs - and this poor chickadee - obviously a newly hatched - SMALL bird got stuck in the jar and could not fly out.  Luckily I saw him go into it and immediately pulled him out when i saw he was not coming out - he dried off on our grape vines and stuck around for a full 20-30 minutes later drying off and cleaning himself and watching us up close - like approx 1-2 meters away from our chairs, and took off and we saw him 1 more time - he landed on my dads hand and ate some seed, took off.