Backyard birds in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Which birds visit Yellowknife yards, when they nest at this latitude, and when to be out for the dawn chorus, all worked out from Yellowknife's own coordinates.
- Coordinates
- 62.454°, -114.372°
- Population
- 20,340
- June 21 daylight
- 19 h 60 min
- December 21 daylight
- 4 h 58 min
- Sunrise mid-April / late June
- 6:15 AM / 3:38 AM
- Nesting vs state average
- about the same time as the state-wide average
- Hardiness zones (state)
- Canada 0a–1a
Nesting timing in Yellowknife
The state guides give nesting windows for Northwest Territories as a whole, weighted toward where most people live (about 62.5°N). Yellowknife is at 62.5°N. Going by Hopkins' bioclimatic law, spring events move about four days per degree of latitude, so breeding here starts about the same time as the state-wide average. Elevation and nearby water also play a part.
Daylight triggers breeding. Yellowknife goes from 4 h 58 min of daylight at the winter solstice to 19 h 60 min in June, a 15 h 2 min swing.
- Black-capped Chickadee — state window May–July; box hole 1 1/8 in round
- Downy Woodpecker — state window May–June; box hole 1 1/4 in round
- Hairy Woodpecker — state window May–June; box hole 1 1/2 in round
- American Robin — state window May–July
- Dark-eyed Junco — state window June–July
- White-throated Sparrow — state window June–July
- Song Sparrow — state window May–August
- Chipping Sparrow — state window May–July
- Northern Flicker — state window May–June; box hole 2 1/2 in
- Pileated Woodpecker — state window May–June
Birds you can expect in Yellowknife
Year-round residents (21)
Black-capped Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Pileated Woodpeckers, Red-breasted Nuthatchs, Pine Siskins, Canada Jays, Common Ravens, Great Horned Owls, Mallards, Belted Kingfishers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Pine Grosbeaks, Red Crossbills, Bald Eagles, Northern Saw-whet Owls, Black-backed Woodpeckers, American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Hoary Redpolls, White-winged Crossbills, Rock Pigeons
Summer breeders (60)
American Robins, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, Cedar Waxwings, Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, Eastern Phoebes, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Eastern Kingbirds, American Tree Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, Varied Thrushs, American Crows, Sharp-shinned Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels, Great Blue Herons, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushs, Winter Wrens, Western Tanagers, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, American Redstarts, Black-and-white Warblers, Ovenbirds, Orange-crowned Warblers, Palm Warblers, Red-eyed Vireos, Warbling Vireos, Least Flycatchers, Cliff Swallows, Bank Swallows, Common Nighthawks, Canada Gooses, American Coots, Killdeers, Spotted Sandpipers, Ospreys, Merlins, Peregrine Falcons, Savannah Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, Harris's Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, Horned Larks, Common Redpolls, Bohemian Waxwings, Rusty Blackbirds
When to watch: dawn chorus in Yellowknife
Songbirds sing hardest in the 30–60 minutes before sunrise, and most of all in spring. In Yellowknife, sunrise is around 6:15 AM in mid-April, 3:38 AM at the June solstice and 11:06 AM in late December (local time, America/Edmonton). Fill feeders the evening before so the first birds find food.
Native plants for Yellowknife yards
Catkin seed feeds redpolls and siskins all winter.
Dark summer fruit and heavy caterpillar load.
Spruce-budworm habitat and dense winter roosting cover.
Cone crops drive winter irruptions of finches and crossbills.
Persistent cones in boreal bogs.
Deciduous conifer with small cones for siskins and redpolls.
Early catkins draw insects for arriving warblers and hummingbirds.
Catkin seed for redpolls on the tundra.
Nearby cities in Northwest Territories
Frequently asked
What birds live in Yellowknife all year?
Year-round residents across Northwest Territories include Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch. All of them visit backyard feeders in Yellowknife.
When do birds start nesting in Yellowknife?
Yellowknife sits at about the same latitude as Northwest Territories's population centre, so nesting runs about the same time as the state-wide average, going by the rule of about 4 days per degree of latitude.
What time does the dawn chorus start in Yellowknife?
Songbirds start singing about 30–60 minutes before sunrise. In Yellowknife, sunrise is around 6:15 AM in mid-April and 3:38 AM in late June.
Sources
- eBird region overview and bar charts — Northwest Territories
- Plant Hardiness Zones of Canada — Natural Resources Canada
- Audubon Native Plants Database
- GeoNames gazetteer (city coordinates & population)
- NOAA Solar Calculator methodology
Timing reflects typical patterns for the region as a whole; local dates vary with elevation and year. Check the linked eBird bar charts for your county.