Birding in Canada
We’re proudly based in Canada, where polar bears and maple leaves abound. When we think of our own backyard, we envision wide-open spaces, near-infinite wilderness, and a diverse flora and fauna. Our landscapes vary from deserts to prairies to rainforests—each with their own secrets to be revealed during one of our many Canadian birding tours. As the second largest country in the world, bounded by three oceans, it is not possible to cover the whole country in one visit, so we have a few exciting options for you to explore.
We’re known to many as The North, but to truly understand this we have to clarify what the north means to us. When we travel toward the pole on one of our land-based birding tours or small-ship expedition cruises, we transport back in time to a place where living off the land is the norm. Our Inuit guides and partners bring a perspective that is unique to our Canadian culture. One lead Inuit outfitter on our flagship Floe Edge tour knows exactly where to position our group in order to watch narwhals and bowhead whales. His honed skills from decades of sustenance living are invaluable. An Inuit hunter and guide, he was born in an igloo and prefers seal meat to any of the hearty meals we bring from the south. His stories, often told under the midnight sun, enthrall us year after year. Most of our guests, inspired by the culture and wild encounters of our various arctic adventures, return home with unforgettable stories of their own. For arctic birds, your best bet is our High Arctic and Northwest Territories birding tour, when the tundra is blooming with life. For wildlife, we recommend the Floe Edge, and for scenery and culture it is difficult to beat one of our arctic cruises.
Canada is a land of extremes, and our climate fluctuates greatly throughout the year. Lark Sparrows and Pacific Rattlesnakes inhabit the hot, dry desert found on our Ultimate British Columbia tour, while neotropical migrants including Prothonotary and Cerulean Warblers relish the warm, humid Carolinian forests of Rondeau and Point Pelee parks. Indeed, the latter has the same latitude as northern California! On the other extreme, we don’t mind a little cold, and neither do the owls found on our Manitoba Owls tour: Great Gray, Snowy and Northern Hawk-owls can be found patrolling the snowy parklands in cold (but not frigid!) temperatures.
We’re not just about birds either. On our Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bears tour, you can see some of the highest densities of these majestic bears anywhere, with the possibility of orcas plying the waters below towering coastal fjords. On our Point Pelee and Newfoundland birding tours, we often encounter moose, beavers and pine marten, while on the arctic tundra and ice floes, polar bear, arctic fox, musk ox, bowhead whales and bearded seals are some of our targets. Undoubtedly, Canada is one of the best places in the world to see mammals, large and small.
Our friendly locals, our inspiring mountain, forest, ocean and prairie landscapes, and our great diversity of wildlife will have you visiting Canada more than once. That’s what it will take to see it all!