Skip to content
birdyas
EN

Canada Canada Ramsar wetland

St. Clair National Wildlife Area

254 bird species recorded; the most in May.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec233at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC BY-SA 4.0

This month here

123 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

American Crow
American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchosWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensisWinter visitorRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bewick's Swan
Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianusWinter visitorDominic Sherony · CC BY-SA 2.0
American Tree Sparrow
American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arboreaWinter visitorMykola Swarnyk · CC BY-SA 3.0
American Black Duck
American Black DuckAnas rubripesWinter visitorALAN SCHMIERER · CC0
Bald Eagle
Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalusWinter visitormichael_eitland · CC BY 2.0
Canada Goose
Canada GooseBranta canadensisResidentPierre5018 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mallard
MallardAnas platyrhynchosResidentTetiana.iefimenko · CC BY 4.0
American Herring Gull
American Herring GullLarus smithsonianusWinter visitorUnknown author · Public domain
Junco hyemalisJunco hyemalisWinter visitor
Blue Jay
Blue JayCyanocitta cristataWinter visitorRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Snow goose
Snow gooseAnser caerulescensWinter visitorAndy Reago & Chrissy McClarren · CC BY 2.0
Shore Lark
Shore LarkEremophila alpestrisWinter visitorImran Shah from Islamabad, Pakistan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Rock Dove
Rock DoveColumba liviaWinter visitorwilliam_stephens · CC BY 4.0
Northern Shoveler
Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeataWinter visitorAndreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5
Northern Cardinal
Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalisResidentpatricia pierce · CC BY 2.0
Mourning Dove
Mourning DoveZenaida macrouraResidentRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Downy Woodpecker
Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescensResidentCosmic Pomegranate · CC BY-SA 4.0
Goosander
GoosanderMergus merganserWinter visitorTony Hisgett · CC BY 2.0
Common Starling
Common StarlingSturnus vulgarisResidentmarsupium photography · CC BY-SA 2.0
Snow Bunting
Snow BuntingPlectrophenax nivalisWinter visitorAmasuela - Luis Lafuente Agudín · CC BY-SA 4.0
Song Sparrow
Song SparrowMelospiza melodiaResidentRhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hen Harrier
Hen HarrierCircus cyaneusResidentKositoes · Public domain
House Sparrow
House SparrowPasser domesticusResidentDiliff · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

254 species, counted.

88out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 254Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 180Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 12ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 65,592Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 176 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 15Raptors
  • 5Owls
  • 30Waders
  • 13Gulls & seabirds
  • 32Ducks & geese
  • 14Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 1Storks & cranes
  • 121Songbirds
  • 23Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 254 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors15 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
  • Hen HarrierCircus cyaneus
  • Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
  • Turkey VultureCathartes aura
  • Falco sparveriusFalco sparverius
  • OspreyPandion haliaetus
  • Accipiter striatusAccipiter striatus
  • Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
  • Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
  • Rough-legged BuzzardButeo lagopus
  • MerlinFalco columbarius
  • Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
  • Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
  • Falco atricapillusFalco atricapillus
  • Ferruginous HawkButeo regalis
Owls5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Snowy OwlBubo scandiacusVU
  • Eastern Screech-OwlMegascops asio
  • Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
  • Short-eared OwlAsio flammeus
  • Long-eared OwlAsio otus
Waders30 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • KilldeerCharadrius vociferusNT
  • Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
  • Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata
  • Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
  • Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
  • DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
  • Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleucaNT
  • American golden ploverPluvialis dominica
  • Semipalmated PloverCharadrius semipalmatus
  • Least SandpiperCalidris minutillaNT
  • Solitary SandpiperTringa solitaria
  • Pectoral SandpiperCalidris melanotos
  • Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseusVU
  • Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
  • Semipalmated SandpiperCalidris pusillaNT
  • American WoodcockScolopax minor
  • Bartram's SandpiperBartramia longicauda
  • White-rumped SandpiperCalidris fuscicollisVU
  • Stilt SandpiperCalidris himantopusNT
  • Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolor
  • SanderlingCalidris alba
  • RuffCalidris pugnax
  • Long-billed dowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceusNT
  • Red KnotCalidris canutusNT
  • WilletTringa semipalmata
  • Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoaVU
  • Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
  • Baird's SandpiperCalidris bairdii
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Buff-breasted SandpiperCalidris subruficollisVU
Gulls & seabirds13 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Ring-billed GullLarus delawarensis
  • American Herring GullLarus smithsonianus
  • Forster's TernSterna forsteri
  • Black TernChlidonias niger
  • Bonaparte's GullChroicocephalus philadelphia
  • Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
  • Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
  • Common LoonGavia immer
  • Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
  • Glaucous GullLarus hyperboreus
  • Magnificent FrigatebirdFregata magnificens
  • Iceland GullLarus glaucoides
Ducks & geese32 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Canada GooseBranta canadensis
  • MallardAnas platyrhynchos
  • Wood DuckAix sponsa
  • Mute SwanCygnus olor
  • Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianus
  • American Black DuckAnas rubripes
  • Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
  • GadwallMareca strepera
  • Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
  • American WigeonMareca americana
  • BuffleheadBucephala albeola
  • Northern PintailAnas acuta
  • Ruddy DuckOxyura jamaicensis
  • Blue-winged TealSpatula discors
  • Eurasian TealAnas crecca
  • Snow gooseAnser caerulescens
  • GoosanderMergus merganser
  • Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
  • RedheadAythya americana
  • Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
  • Cackling GooseBranta hutchinsii
  • Greater ScaupAythya marila
  • CanvasbackAythya valisineria
  • Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
  • Ross's GooseAnser rossii
  • Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
  • Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
  • Trumpeter SwanCygnus buccinator
  • Long-tailed duckClangula hyemalisVU
  • Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
  • American ScoterMelanitta americanaNT
  • Cairina moschataCairina moschata
Herons, ibises & grebes14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Pied-billed GrebePodilymbus podiceps
  • Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
  • Green HeronButorides virescens
  • Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
  • American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
  • Horned GrebePodiceps auritusVU
  • Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
  • Snowy EgretEgretta thula
  • Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
  • Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
  • American White PelicanPelecanus erythrorhynchos
  • Plegadis chihiPlegadis chihi
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Sandhill CraneGrus canadensis
Songbirds121 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Agelaius phoeniceusAgelaius phoeniceus
  • Common GrackleQuiscalus quisculaNT
  • American RobinTurdus migratorius
  • Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
  • Tree SwallowTachycineta bicolor
  • Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
  • Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
  • Swamp SparrowMelospiza georgiana
  • Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
  • Marsh WrenCistothorus palustris
  • Barn swallowHirundo rustica
  • American GoldfinchSpinus tristis
  • American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
  • Grey CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
  • Mangrove WarblerSetophaga petechia
  • Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
  • House SparrowPasser domesticus
  • Shore LarkEremophila alpestris
  • Myrtle WarblerSetophaga coronata
  • Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
  • Warbling VireoVireo gilvus
  • American Tree SparrowSpizelloides arborea
  • Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
  • Junco hyemalisJunco hyemalis
  • Northern House WrenTroglodytes aedon
  • Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
  • White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis
  • Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
  • Purple MartinProgne subis
  • Eastern phoebeSayornis phoebe
  • Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
  • Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
  • White-crowned sparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
  • Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
  • Palm WarblerSetophaga palmarum
  • Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
  • Sand MartinRiparia riparia
  • Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinusVU
  • American Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
  • Magnolia WarblerSetophaga magnolia
  • Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
  • Nashville WarblerLeiothlypis ruficapilla
  • BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorusNT
  • Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
  • Snow BuntingPlectrophenax nivalis
  • Eastern Wood-PeweeContopus virens
  • American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
  • Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
  • Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
  • Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
  • Yellow-headed BlackbirdXanthocephalus xanthocephalus
  • Buff-bellied PipitAnthus rubescens
  • Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
  • Black-throated Green WarblerSetophaga virens
  • Toxostoma rufumToxostoma rufum
  • Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
  • Red-eyed VireoVireo olivaceus
  • Winter WrenTroglodytes hiemalis
  • House finchHaemorhous mexicanus
  • Chestnut-sided WarblerSetophaga pensylvanica
  • Swainson's ThrushCatharus ustulatus
  • Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
  • Scarlet FlycatcherPyrocephalus rubinus
  • Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
  • Cape May WarblerSetophaga tigrina
  • Blackpoll WarblerSetophaga striataNT
  • Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
  • Bay-breasted WarblerSetophaga castanea
  • Tennessee WarblerLeiothlypis peregrina
  • Purple FinchHaemorhous purpureus
  • Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
  • Red Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
  • Brown CreeperCerthia americana
  • Blackburnian WarblerSetophaga fusca
  • Philadelphia VireoVireo philadelphicus
  • Black-and-white WarblerMniotilta varia
  • White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
  • Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
  • Northern ParulaSetophaga americana
  • Northern WaterthrushParkesia noveboracensis
  • Wilson's WarblerCardellina pusilla
  • Eastern MeadowlarkSturnella magnaNT
  • Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
  • Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
  • Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
  • Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
  • Pine SiskinSpinus pinus
  • Orange-crowned WarblerLeiothlypis celata
  • Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
  • VeeryCatharus fuscescens
  • Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
  • Olive-Sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
  • Black-throated Blue WarblerSetophaga caerulescens
  • Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
  • Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalusNT
  • Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
  • Pine WarblerSetophaga pinus
  • Yellow-bellied FlycatcherEmpidonax flaviventris
  • Grey-cheeked ThrushCatharus minimus
  • Orchard orioleIcterus spurius
  • Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
  • Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
  • Canada warblerCardellina canadensis
  • Northern ShrikeLanius borealis
  • OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
  • Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
  • Henslow's SparrowCentronyx henslowii
  • American Yellow WarblerSetophaga aestiva
  • Grass WrenCistothorus platensis
  • Mourning WarblerGeothlypis philadelphia
  • Louisiana WaterthrushParkesia motacilla
  • Nelson's SparrowAmmospiza nelsoni
  • Clay-colored SparrowSpizella pallida
  • White-eyed VireoVireo griseus
  • Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
  • Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
  • Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysopteraNT
  • Cerulean WarblerSetophaga ceruleaNT
  • Connecticut WarblerOporornis agilis
  • Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
  • White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
Other birds23 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
  • Downy WoodpeckerDryobates pubescens
  • American CootFulica americana
  • Yellow-shafted FlickerColaptes auratus
  • Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
  • SoraPorzana carolina
  • Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
  • Virginia RailRallus limicola
  • Rock DoveColumba livia
  • Tsįįłkaałii bitłʼaaʼ halchíʼígííMelanerpes carolinus
  • Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
  • Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
  • Common PheasantPhasianus colchicus
  • Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
  • Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
  • Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
  • Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagicaVU
  • Hairy WoodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosus
  • Black-billed cuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
  • Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
  • White-winged DoveZenaida asiatica
  • Colinus virginianusColinus virginianus
  • Purple GallinulePorphyrio martinica

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species in May.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan123-1°/-7°49 mm
  2. Feb800°/-7°47 mm
  3. Mar1156°/-3°52 mm
  4. Apr16413°/2°66 mm
  5. May23319°/9°82 mm
  6. Jun10624°/15°77 mm
  7. Jul11327°/18°80 mm
  8. Aug13826°/18°73 mm
  9. Sep18523°/14°69 mm
  10. Oct15716°/7°62 mm
  11. Nov1258°/1°58 mm
  12. Dec1022°/-3°54 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

St. Clair National Wildlife Area.

Nature reserve in Ontario, Canada

St. Clair National Wildlife Area is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Canada.

254 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 65,592 open records.

The most recorded are the Canada Goose, the Agelaius phoeniceus and the Mallard.

100 species come for the summer, 72 for the winter and 8 only pass through.

12 are threatened worldwide, including Grey Plover, Rusty Blackbird and Snowy Owl.

The most species are recorded in May.

Scene at the St. Clair National Wildlife Area (April 2026)
Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC BY-SA 4.0

Get there and watch

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

St. Clair National Wildlife Area seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 1car parks within 3 km
  • 3campsites within 10 kmCharron's RV Park
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • marked trails within 4 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • viewpoints within 5 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • places to stay within 10 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

Around St. Clair National Wildlife Area.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Coastya1 beaches within 10 km
Patricks Cove · 9.0 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Bridge at the St. Clair National Wildlife Area (April 2026)
Rub-a-dub Hedgehog · CC BY-SA 4.0
River Thames Lighthouse (1818), Lighthouse Conservation Area, Tilbury, Ontario, 2025-08-30 01
Chris Woodrich · CC BY-SA 4.0
River Thames Lighthouse (1818), Lighthouse Conservation Area, Tilbury, Ontario, 2025-08-30 03
Chris Woodrich · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other places nearby.

St. Clair National Wildlife Area

Canada

  • 88Birdyas Score
  • 254Species
  • 180Migrants
  • 12Threatened

Point Pelee National Park

Canada · 46 km

  • 91Birdyas Score
  • 385Species
  • 270Migrants
  • 15Threatened

See the guide

Long Point

Canada · 193 km

  • 90Birdyas Score
  • 329Species
  • 236Migrants
  • 15Threatened

See the guide

Niagara River

Canada · 291 km

  • 90Birdyas Score
  • 325Species
  • 239Migrants
  • 15Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q3457295) · CC0
Birds65,592 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesCoastya

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.