Gilligallou's Blog — bird identification

After spending most of their time in Florida, the Caribbean and Central America during the winter months, they spread across the eastern United States and portions of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and some of the Canadian Maritimes during their breeding season. With a recent influx of these sightings here in our area, we thought it to be fitting to compile a quick list of what makes these colourful birds truly unique.

Officially the smallest woodpecker in North America, these pint-sized birds are easy to attract and wonderful to have around the yard during all seasons of the year. In fact, they are the most likely of the woodpecker species to visit your feeder given their strong population numbers across the country.

Let’s be honest; there is certainly a cohort of folks out there who likely believe that the American crow and the common raven are one and the same. While they do share a number of similarities, the reality is that these are two quite different species of birds and they are both incredibly common here […]  

Once you know them, catching a glimpse of a northern flicker in flight is almost unmistakable. When flying away from you, these medium-sized woodpeckers produce a panache all their own with their easy-to-identify and completely customized markings. As we stated above, these birds belong in the woodpecker family but don’t always play the part like […]