Birds of High Park

Birds of High Park / Wildlife of Toronto's High Park

Toronto’s High Park is a year-round birding hotspot, with well over 150 species seen regularly over the year. In the Spring and Fall, High Park is an important stop-over for migrating birds. More than 50 species breed in the park. Christmas bird counts typically turn up 40 to 50 species. The "all-time" list for High Park totals over 260 species, including many rarities and exotic transients.

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You May Spot

Ducks
Cormorants
Herons
Hawks
Woodpeckers
Sparrows
Nuthatches
Blackbirds
And many others...

Bird Lists

Common Birds of High Park Wetlands, 2010. PDF (380 Kb).
Common Birds of High Park Oak Savannah and Woodlands, 2010. PDF (137 Kb).
List of Bird Species Recorded at High Park, 1947-2002. PDF (206 Kb). From High Park Woodland & Savannah Management Plan (2 Mb).
High Park Christmas Bird Count 2021 and previous years’ results (Excel file, 54 Kb).

Featured Article

Dark-eyed Junco. Photo: Iain Fleming

Birding through the seasons in High Park

A wide variety of bird-life can be found in High Park through the seasons. Besides the omnipresent Ring-billed Gulls, Mallards, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Starlings, House Sparrows, Rock Pigeons, Mourning Doves and Crows, there is a wide variety of birdlife in High Park. The Park is active year round. The ‘all time’ list for the park is extensive at over 260 species but that includes many rarities and exotic transients.

Young Birds in High Park – Feeding Time

Cardinal chick. Photo: Michael Herman

Ruby-throated Hummingbird female feeding young. Photo: JM

American Robin at nest. Photo: Tony Pus

Red-winged Blackbird female at nest. Photo: Tony Pus

Wood Duck ducklings on log. Photo: Katherine Pawling

Great Horned Owl juvenile. Photo: Tony Pus

Canada Goose with chicks. Photo: JM

What to do if you find a baby bird in distress?

Before acting, observe carefully and then follow these step by step guidelines from Toronto Wildlife Centre: How to help orphaned baby birds.

More Bird Galleries

High Park Christmas Bird Count

by Bob Yukich

The annual High Park Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 (a mostly sunny day with light snow-cover). Our route recorded a total of 46 species and 3,961 individuals.

No unexpected species were found this year. The rarest sighting was a Northern Mockingbird – the first for this count area since 2011 – feeding in a sumac at Ellis Ave. and the Queensway. Other highlights were 5 Wood Duck, 46 Northern Shoveler, 24 Hooded Merganser, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2 Great Horned Owl, 2 Common Raven and a single Red-winged Blackbird.

Because of a particularly mild first half of December, all ponds were ice-free. Birds seen in the days leading up to count, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Ruddy Duck, Belted Kingfisher and Hermit Thrush, could not be found on count day.

See High Park Christmas Bird Count 2021 and previous years’ results (Excel, 54 Kb).

The High Park count area includes High Park and vicinity. The boundaries are Parkside Drive-Keele St. on the east, Eglinton Ave. on the north, South Kingsway-Jane St. on the west, and Lake Ontario on the south. The count is coordinated through the Toronto Ornithological Club and Birds Canada.

Find a Christmas Count group near you:

In Ontario, on Ontario Nature.
In Canada, on Birds Canada

Northern Cardinal female. Photo: Iain Fleming

Downy Woodpecker. Photo: Mila Ark

Web Resources about Birds and for Birding

Ontario Field Ornithologists. Links to a lot of bird information resources. Check out the main site as well.
Toronto Ornithological Club.
Ontario Bird News By Date. Ontario bird sightings by American Birding Association.
Toronto and Southern Ontario Birding. Forum dedicated to sightings reporting. Includes: bird ID help, discussions and photo sharing.
All about birds. Online bird guide, bird ID help, life history, bird sounds from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
National Audubon Society. From international news to a bird ID guide, to a birding advice.

Biodiversity Booklet Series

Includes: Birds, Butterflies, Spiders, Fishes, Mammals, Bees, Reptiles and Amphibians, Mushrooms, and Trees, Shrubs and Vines of Toronto. Free copies may be available at your local Toronto Public Library branch. To find out more about these free guidebooks or to download a pdf version, visit the City of Toronto's Biodiversity website.