Lasts 21 weeks: October 31 – March 27

Winter population monitoring at McGill Bird Observatory spans the 21 weeks between the fall and spring migration monitoring seasons. Although relatively few species overwinter regularly at MBO, several of them are uncommon to absent in other seasons, and therefore winter provides the best opportunity to monitor them. Additionally, observations in early and late winter provide an opportunity to document lingering late fall migrants or early spring arrivals.Unlike the daily monitoring during migration, activities at MBO in winter are more sporadic, limited largely by weather conditions, especially when it comes to banding. Few bird observatories at this latitude operate through winter, so MBO has the potential to generate some interesting data on the winter distribution of birds.

Click any thumbnail to see enlarged photographs