---

Welcome to the BC’s Best Bird Competition, 2025! After crowning last year’s Champion, the Anna’s Hummingbird, we’ve let it take a rest to find out which Songbird is best. We’ve got 32 of the chirpiest tweeters here for you to put head to beak. Whether you pick your favourite through singing ability, perfect plumage or beautiful behaviors, your vote is needed to keep your favourites in the competition. Read on to see the matchups, then cast your votes at the form on the bottom of the page. May the best bird win!

Round 2 is on now!

Click Here or Scroll to the bottom of this page to cast your vote!

 

Pacific Wrens have an incredible array of short trilling vocalizations. They can sing 50 different phrases within 10 seconds; that’s almost 20 times faster than a human! Males will build an assortment of nests, in crevices, holes and other cavities, allowing their new mate to choose the one to their liking to rear their young. During the cold winter months, Pacific Wrens have been observed to bundle together in nest boxes to preserve warmth! You will typically find them in old-growth forests, however, during the spring and fall salmon migration, you will find Pacific Wrens near riverways, caching in on the abundance of insects!

Sunny Tseng, XC729504. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/729504. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The Purple Finch has been described as a ‘sparrow dipped in raspberry juice’. They have large beaks that are well suited for cracking seeds, but they also love drinking nectar from flowers. Purple finches are known for rich, warbling songs, and they love doing impressions of other birds songs. They’ll weave them into their own calls.

Doug Hynes, XC935606. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/935606. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The Black Capped Chickadee makes a birder out of all of us with their easy to identify “Chick-a-dee-dee-dee” call. They use this call to alert flock mates of nearby food, their movements, and approaching predators. But this is just one call in their repertoire, the Black Capped Chickadee language is one of the most complex bird languages in the world. Lucky for us, these non-migratory birds stick around all year, allowing us to eaves drop on their fascinating conversations year round. They’ve even evolved to enter regulated periods of hypothermia to survive cold winter nighttime temperatures.

Thomas Magarian, XC544963. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/544963. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The Brown Creeper is one of a kind. As the only tree creeper in North America, Brown Creepers can be seen creeping up along the trunks of trees searching for invertebrates hidden in the bark. Once they reach the top of a tree, they’ll fly back down to the base of a different trunk and start the climb again. Despite this unique behaviour, these birds are amazing at camouflage and their high pitched vocalizations makes them really hard to spot.

Ray Cooke, XC919551. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/919551. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Red-winged Blackbirds are one of the most highly polygynous birds in the world. It is common for up to 15 females to all nest within the same breeding territory of one male, but research has shown that not all the young are fathered by that same male. Talk about scan-da-lous. Nonetheless, Red-winged Blackbirds are fierce and loyal parents who will dive bomb potential threats approaching their nests to keep their babies safe. Females will also help fight off predators attacking the nests of other Red-winged Blackbirds.

Alán Palacios, XC872175. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/872175. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

 

Named as Canada’s bird by Canadian Geographic, and rightfully so, the Canada Jay is smart, fierce and loyal. Mating pairs breed for life and are rarely seen apart. These smarties are quick to learn new food sources and travel together scanning their territory searching for food. Despite their size, Canada Jays are a major predator of the Northern Boreal Forests – preying on everything from larval amphibians to small mammals. But they don’t just eat the food they find, they cache most of it away, storing it on tree branches to sustain themselves during cold winters.

Andrew Spencer, XC28872. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/28872. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Ruby-crowned Kinglets may be small, but they’re bursting with energy and personality! These little birds zip through the trees, flitting around as they search for food. While their namesake ruby crown can be elusive—since females don’t have one and males often keep theirs tucked away—it’s worth keeping your eyes peeled. During breeding season, you may be lucky to catch a glimpse of a male showing off his vibrant crown while singing to impress a potential mate. Keep a watchful eye for this small yet captivating bird.

Brian Cox, XC939195. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/939195. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

The Varied Thrush is a captivating bird that can be found year-round along the Pacific Northwest coast. In the summer, this bird primarily feeds on insects, but as these become less available in the winter, the Varied Thrush adapts by switching to seeds and berries. Typically found lower in the forest, the Varied Thrush thrives in the understory and on the forest floor. The population of Varied Thrushes is slowly declining, likely due to habitat loss caused by forest fragmentation and the challenges posed by urban environments.

AUDEVARD Aurélien, XC750454. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/750454. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Violet-green Swallows hunt for insects high above lakes and streams. They are stunning aerial acrobats, and are incredibly speedy. A Violet-green swallow can fly nearly as fast as a Peregrine Falcon when travelling. With it’s flashy green and purple colouring, it’s almost like the Lamborghini of songbirds.

Richard E. Webster, XC611748. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/611748. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

With their vibrant black, yellow, and red plumage, male Western Tanagers are easily one of the most beautiful songbirds in BC. Their beauty is thanks to good old chemistry. Western Tanagers take rare purple pigments from the insects they eat and deposit it into their feathers giving them that bright red colour. Despite their bright colouration, these secretive birds are hard to spot, often hiding in shady forested areas.

Thomas Magarian, XC441367. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/441367. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

This bird needs no introduction. The American Robin is easily recognized in our green spaces with their bright orange chests and loud melodic songs. When it comes to foraging, these birds are a jack of all trades and will switch up their foraging strategy depending on the target food. You might see them sitting in waiting in the grass, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting earthworms passing by, or hopping through shrubs searching for invertebrates and fruits. American Robins also have long complex flight patterns they use to catch flying insects right out of the air. All of these tools have helped them survive in diverse and changing habitats.

Brian Cox, XC938991. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/938991. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Move over hummingbirds, there is another sweet tooth in town. Cedar Waxwings are one of the biggest frugivores in North America – they eat more fruit than pretty much any other bird. They even breed later in the year than most birds to coincide with the abundance of ripe summer fruit. But fruit isn’t just an important food source for Cedar Waxwings, it also plays an important role in courtship. Mates will pass a piece fruit back and forth when pairing up. Juveniles have also been seen to practice this behaviour with flock mates. How sweet.

Simon Elliott, XC597191. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/597191. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

As one of the most widespread songbirds of North America, Song Sparrows are found coast to coast, down to Mexico and up to Southern Alaska. Not just widespread, Song Sparrows’s have an incredible amount of diversity among their populations, making up 24 subspecies across North America. Individual birds throughout these populations can vary 150% in body mass, and demonstrate quite different vocal repertoires. However, wherever you are, you will always be able to recognize the male Song Sparrow by their distinct, melodic song.

Laura Stewart, XC445656. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/445656. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

House Finches are known for their vibrant ‘red’ plumage. Did you know they get this red colour from the pigments that are found in the food they consume during their molt? If a finch doesn’t eat enough berries, they can have a yellowy or even orange hew in their plumage. Females tend to pick the male finches with the reddest feathers, so the male finches have a lot of berries to eat to not get left out during mating season.

Matthew L. Brady, XC875451. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/875451. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

An icon of Canada’s boreal forests, Red-breasted Nuthatches are easily identified climbing down tree trunks head first searching for insects or seed caches they’ve stored throughout the year. These birds are the definition of type-A parents, refusing to use old nest cavities or even nest boxes to nest. Instead, these nuthatches will excavate new cavities in tree snags every year and smear fresh conifer resin around the entrance to protect against predators and nest competitors. Nothing but the best for their little ones.

Sunny Tseng, XC753117. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/753117. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Savannah Sparrows are one of the most common songbirds in North America, and can be found just about anywhere. Tell them apart from other sparrows by looking for the yellow mark between their eye and beak. There are many subspecies of this sparrow, as they tend to return to the place they were born to breed, leading to regional differences.

Patrice Mathieu, XC782409. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/782409. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Schedule:

Voting closes at noon on the final day of each round and will reopen with the next round at noon the following day.

Round 1: March 17-24

Round 2: March 25-31

Round 3: April 1-7

Round 4: April 8-14

Finals: April 15-21