LINK TO PDF NEWSLETTER DOWNLOAD
November 2025
The Dark-eyed junco is a common sparrow in Alberta, found across the province, especially in boreal forests for breeding and overwintering in southern areas. Key identification features include a dark hood, white belly and white outer tail feathers that flash in flight. They are often seen feeding on the ground near feeders, and are known for their soft trilling “chip” calls.
The Dark-eyed junco is a unique sparrow with incredible variation between populations which include the subspecies: Slate-coloured (widespread), Oregon (West), Pink-sided (Rockies), Gray-headed (Rockies and southwest U.S. to Mexico), Red-backed (central Arizona and New Mexico), and White-winged (breeds in Black Hills, winters mainly in Colorado).
Juncos are New World sparrows, and they fraternize with White-throated sparrows. Sometimes you may even see a hybrid, as the two birds have been known to cross-breed.
a. The name junco is derived from the Latin word for the “rush” plant found in wetlands
b. Juncos, along with some other members of the sparrow family, practice an interesting foraging method called “riding.” They fly up to a seed cluster on the top of a grass stem and “ride” it to the ground where they pick off the seeds while standing on it
c. Juncos have over 30 percent more feathers (by weight) in the winter than they do in the summer
d. Juncos are known to burrow through snow in search of seeds that have been covered over
e. Dark-eyed juncos are closely linked to seed distribution because they eat seeds. While they eat seeds, they unknowingly help spread plant species to new places. They act as tools for planting and plant regeneration. This role is of special significance in the forests in which the Juncos assist in preserving plant species
If you are unable to make it in to the store on Tuesday for Senior’s Day discount, then you can call the store anytime on Tuesday to place and pay for your order, and then you can pick it up later in the week at your convenience.
PLEASE NOTE:
This is for customers who are currently signed up as a senior’s day customer and applies only to in-store purchases.
HOME DELIVERY SCHEDULE FOR MONTH OF November 2025
Every Thursday.
OUR UPCOMING SPEAKER SERIES!
LOCATION:
Costa Rica:
An introduction to a neotropical birding paradise
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH 6:00PM
Ticket price: $10.00 +GST
(Tickets can be purchased through the Wild Bird Store website under resources – calendar.)
Tickets are non-refundable
www.wildbirdstore.ca
Gavin McKinnon’s biography:
Gavin has had a passion for birding from a young age, which stems from a family trip to Point Pelee National Park on the northern shores of Lake Erie. Since then, Gavin has traveled extensively across Canada and the United States. He has also ventured farther afield and led tours in the Neotropics and Africa. After high school, Gavin attended Lethbridge College, where he studied Renewable Resource Management. Gavin enjoys sharing his knowledge and passion for birds, which led him to form his own company, Meadowlark Birding Tours, in 2022. Gavin lives in Calgary, enjoys birding locally, and is currently working on a new field guide to the birds of his home province of Alberta.
Jim’s years of guiding bird walks for the Wild Bird Store has been instrumental in teaching “birders” how to get the most out of their birding excursions.
Unfortunately, Jim has decided he can no longer continue to spend many hours walking while guiding his walks. An option for Jim is to continue his lifelong passion, not only for birding, but for sharing his knowledge and passion in a different way. Birding by car has become the alternative, but might surprise you with the multitude of species you have the opportunity to see, especially when your guide is so proficient at finding wild birds.
EAST TO NAMAKA CARSELAND AREAS Saturday November 29, 2025
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
IRRICANA STRATHMORE Saturday December 13, 2025
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
POLICEMAN’S FLATS, BLACKIE & FRANK LAKE AREA Saturday January 10, 2026
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
WATER VALLEY, GRAND VALLEY ROAD AREA Saturday January 24, 2026
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
NORTHEAST IRRICANA AREA Saturday February 7, 2026
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
PRIDDIS TO LONGVIEW AREA Saturday February 21, 2026
Ticket price $7.00 + GST
PLEASE NOTE:
All trips are by car. Bring lunch. Will usually be 5-6 hours. We will be searching for winter visitors such as Snowy owls, Snow buntings, Red-tail hawks, Gyrfalcons, Redpolls and others. As well as foothill birds like Great gray owls, crossbills & others.
All trips start by meeting at 9:00am at the rear parking of the Wild Bird Store. Carpooling is encouraged.
Any trips postponed due to weather may be held the following Saturday.
Birding from a car offers a unique mobile viewing platform, especially in open habitats, acting as a “blind” to approach birds quietly. To do this safely and effectively, drive slowly on low-traffic roads, using your car as a mobile hide to observe birds without disturbing them. Pull over on the shoulder, not the road, turn off your engine to avoid vibrations, and have your binoculars, camera, and essential accessories like a beanbag ready to capture fleeting moments.
We offer a discount if you return your 20 LB or 40 LB seed bags so that we can re-use them (sorry—not the Mother Nature bags which we cannot re-use), suet ball containers, or if you bring your own container or bag to fill . This discount is in addition to any other discount offered.
Question:
While recently enjoying drinks with some macho hockey buddies, I casually revealed that I was a keen birdwatcher. This led to a bout of mild derisive teasing. While I was not offended in any manner, do you have any advice on how to counter such attitudes and maybe even recruit some new birders?
Response:
The next time someone teases you about being a birdwatcher, tell them that you are simply working on your brain health, or more specifically, trying to stave off memory loss. Everyone knows that our memory functions tend to decrease with age and can even lead to dementia or worse, Alzheimer’s. But a study out of Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute located in Toronto by lead author, Dr. Eric Wing (yes, it’s his real name….says the ornithologist with the last name ‘Bird’) examined memory in expert birdwatchers. He and his team found that having expert knowledge in a subject helps us to memorize new information. The premise for research goes like this. Forgetting things often happens when similar memories interfere with each other but having expert knowledge in something provides us with a mental organizational structure. Basically, it helps us to keep new items that we want to learn distinct from each other. The Baycrest study recruited local bird experts from Toronto birdwatching clubs, as well as experts in gardening, fishing and hiking as comparative groups. Both groups of participants were shown sets of bird images and asked to arrange them visually on the screen according to perceived similarity. The birding experts used more subtle features of the birds, while the control groups resorted to more superficial features like colour. To test the participants’ memories, they were all shown a series of bird photographs, and then later a second series containing both old and new birds. Next, they asked them to identify any birds seen in the first series. The birding experts who had grouped birds based on specific features performed better than those who just used colour. Even among the birding experts, those who used mostly colour demonstrated worse memory ability. The bottom line? The study suggests that the better you are at identifying birds, the longer you may be able to retain your ability to remember things. Now, where in the heck are my car keys….
Bird-watching offers a calming, sensory-rich experience that can be especially meaningful for individuals living with dementia or memory loss. Observing birds invites people to slow down, focus on the present moment and connect with nature in a soothing way. The sounds, colors and movements stimulate multiple senses, which can help engage the brain and support cognitive activity.
David M. Bird, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology, McGill University www.askprofessorbird.com
David M. Bird is Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology and the former Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre at McGill University. As a past-president of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, a former board member with Birds Canada, a Fellow of both the American Ornithological Society and the International Ornithological Union, he has received several awards for his conservation and public education efforts. Dr. Bird is a regular columnist on birds for Bird Watcher’s Digest and Canadian Wildlife magazines and is the author of several books and over 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications. He is the consultant editor for multiple editions of DK Canada’s Birds of Canada, Birds of Eastern Canada, Birds of Western Canada, and Pocket Birds of Canada. To know more about him, visit www.askprofessorbird.com or email david.bird@mcgill.ca.
Interest in Roost Boxes is Growing
As temperatures cool during fall, some birds begin to use nest boxes as overnight havens—as “roost boxes” – and they use these boxes increasingly as winter-like weather approaches. This has long been a secondary use of nest boxes, but during recent years some birders and nest box builders have improved the process in small but excellent ways to serve cold-weather birds by building a focused roost box. A roost box can be a great way to attract some favourite birds to your yard and property, while providing a considerable benefit to the birds that use it in the process. And who wouldn’t want to provide a roost for a small owl, or chickadee to name a couple of birds that may benefit.
That’s exactly why birders are beginning to install specialized roost boxes. In nature, some birds—especially cavity nesting birds such as owls, woodpeckers, titmice, bluebirds and chickadees—seek out cavities where they can stay out of the wind, snow and sleet and where their body heat can warm the small area of a cavity to help them conserve precious energy when resources are scarcest. Some smaller birds such as bluebirds and chickadees are also known to roost collectively in a single roost site with several of them huddling together during severe weather.
The main difference between a specialized roost box and a nest box is that roost boxes have their entrance hole positioned near the bottom of the box to help keep warm air created by the bird or birds inside the box. Their body heat will rise inside the roost box, creating a more favourable roost site. (Conversely, the warmer air escapes from the entrance hole positioned at the top of a nest box.)
The second improvement to a roost box is the addition of 1 or 2 cross bars that are installed horizontally a few inches above the entrance hole, so roosting birds can perch where the warmer air is contained. After learning about these 2 relatively simple improvements, it makes sense to provide a specialized roost box, and it can really help birds to conserve needed energy during any cool night, but especially during cold nights and during daytime snowstorms or windstorms.
A really impressive option is the convertible roost box/nest box, which allows you to reposition the front panel of the box where the entrance hole is positioned. This unique design allows you to position the hole high during the nesting season, then reverse the panel so the entrance hole is low during the cold weather roosting period.
Roost and inside of roost—view of the inside from the bottom. Other options available at The Wild Bird Store also include a “convertible roost/nest box”
Concentrating on Shelled Sunflower Seeds
When we look back on when we started feeding bids, like many birders we bought a plastic bag of mixed seeds that included a lot of millet, red milo and cracked corn at the hardware store. But that was before the true advent of feeding wild birds. Today, birders in the know ignore these seed mixes and realistically, buying bird food today is much easier. We know that by simply providing black oil sunflower seeds we will attract 95 percent of the seed-eating birds we will prefer to see in our yard, and by providing fresh water we will potentially attract and benefit all birds.
Black oil sunflower seeds provide the best quality of food for wild birds because they are small enough for even goldfinches, chickadees, siskins and nuthatches to eat, but larger birds like cardinals, woodpeckers and jays relish them—and these seeds provide highest level of food value of any seeds.
Today, we take providing sunflower seeds a step farther by providing shelled sunflower kernels, which eliminates the mess of empty shells that are spread around the ground and pile up below feeders. It also eliminates the toil of raking, shoveling and bagging sunflower shells that accumulate around your feeding station. And let’s be honest, there are shells discarded here and there around your yard and neighbouring yards too. The shells create a mess—so don’t buy them.
Instead, purchase bags of shelled black oil sunflower seeds. They may cost more, but birds eat every crumb of seeds contained in a bag. And you are not paying for the shells, which no bird will eat so it saves you money; you don’t need to buy many bags of sunflower seeds because shells take up a lot of space in a bag of sunflower seeds. And the shells also take up a lot of space in your feeder, which means you don’t need to fill your feeder as often if you fill it with shelled seeds. It’s a win, win option. At the same time, most of us like to provide a variety of quality foods, if for no other reason than to see what foods different birds prefer.
DONATIONS
Located at The Wild Bird Store (near the seed bins). We collect your cash as well as “wishlist” donations and arrange to deliver them to local wildlife organizations including Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation, Alberta Institute of Conservation and Ellis Bird Farm.
We ask for your support quarterly for each of these organizations.
For September, October, and November 2025 your donations will go to:
Thank you for your support
Wildwood Community Centre (4411 Spruce Drive SW): We will be on location the
FIRST
Tuesday of the month 3:00pm to 5:30pm through the winter months.
FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2025, THE SEED TRUCK WILL BE AT WILDWOOD LOCATION ON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4TH
Thank you for your continued support.
Crowfoot Arena (corner of John Laurie & Nosehill Drive NW: Every Wednesday 2:00pm to 5:30pm
Please place orders by 12:00 noon the day before the truck is on location
Text us @ (403)701-4571 OR email us at orders@wildbirdstore.ca
Earn and redeem customer loyalty points on the Mobile Seed Truck
DELIVERY: Deliveries will still be made on Thursdays ONLY. Please phone the store at (403) 640-2632 any day prior to 12:00 noon on the Wednesday before your delivery; place and pay for your delivery. Please phone with your order as early as possible to avoid disappointment. If you have any special instructions please do not forget to inform us when you place your order.
THE DELIVERY CHARGE WILL BE $10
MINIMUM ORDER FOR DELIVERY $25.
Have you checked out the Merlin app? Would you like a demonstration on how they will help you to identify birds? Stop by The Wild Bird Store during regular business hours and staff will be happy to show you how the app will enable you to identify birds in various ways.
Identify Bird Songs and Calls
Identify Birds by your Photos
Save Birds to Your Life List
Explore lists of birds near your location
Options for shopping at the Wild Bird Store
HOME DELIVERY SCHEDULE FOR MONTH OF October 2025
Every Thursday
THE DELIVERY CHARGE WILL BE $10. MINIMUM $25 ORDER FOR DELIVERY.
Store hours are:
10:00am to 5:00pm Tuesday through Saturday
Starting November 17/2025 Monday – Saturday 10:00AM-5:00PM
Why is it called a Rough-legged hawk?
The name “Rough-legged” hawk refers to the feathered legs. The Rough-legged hawk, the Ferruginous hawk, and the Golden eagle are the only Canadian raptors to have legs feathered all the way to the toes.
The Rough-legged buzzard or Rough-legged hawk is a medium/large bird of prey. It is found in arctic and subarctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia during the breeding season, and migrates south for the winter.
We offer a discount if you return your 20 LB or 40 LB seed bags so that we can re-use them (sorry—not the Mother Nature bags which we cannot re-use), suet ball containers, or if you bring your own container or bag to fill . This discount is in addition to any other discount offered.
Write a Google review on your experience at The Wild Bird Store, and as a thank you, we will give you 100 customer loyalty points ($5.00 value). To get a promo code, kindly email info@wildbirdstore.ca
(one Google review per customer)
Earn 200 customer loyalty points ($10.00 value) by referring a friend, acquaintance or fellow birder.
Please visit the store to get a promo code.
No need for a card, just give your phone number. You earn $1.00 for every $20.00 spent (excludes “sales” items, books & optics) and can be used in-store and on Mobile Seed Truck. As a loyalty member our monthly promotions and in-store “specials” are automatically given at the cash register.
Combining our Seniors 10% discount with the Loyalty Program. (Excludes “sales” items, books & optics).
Discount for membership 10% discount for members of Fish Creek Park, AIWC, Priddis Golf Club, Nature Calgary, Sandy Cross Conservation, Springbank Garden Club and Millarville Horticultural Society. Must present valid membership card at time of purchase.
Discount for Military Members & Veterans 10% discount on
purchases in-store or on Mobile Seed Truck (sorry—excludes “sales”
items, books, optics and consignment items)
Does your Aspects or Squirrel Buster feeder need some replacement parts?
Is the warranty & repair depot for:
Squirrel Buster® Bird Feeders
Aspects® Feeders
Did you know that we can repair/replace parts and make it look like brand new?
CLOSED: Tuesday,
November 11 2025 for Rememberance Day
PLEASE NOTE: THE WILD BIRD STORE WILL BE CLOSED IN REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE WHO FOUGHT AND DIED FOR OUR COUNTRY
5901 3rd Street S.E.,
Calgary, AB T2H 1K3
email: info@wildbirdstore.ca
(403) 640 2632
The Store is open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00am to 5:00pm
We are CLOSED Sundays, Mondays and ALL Statutory holidays for Faith, Family and Friends.
We still offer curbside pickup every day we are open and delivery service on every other Thursday.
FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook @thewildbirdstoreyyc
Twitter @wildbirdstoreyyc
Go to YouTube, type in the search bar “The Wild Bird Store” to watch our videos and to help us become more visible . Be sure to click on “Subscribe” before you leave the page.
