Hornby Island Natural History Centre
Category: Birds
Clever Corvids: The Northwestern Crow
This month’s featured treasure is our Northwestern crow, pictured above. This species lives along the BC and Alaskan coast, while a similar species, the American Crow, lives in the BC interior. Crows are generalist scavengers, eating marine invertebrates, other bird’s…
Read MoreFeatured Treasure: Dance of the Grebes
Happy Valentines Day! To celebrate this day of love, our featured treasure of the month is the Western grebe – a bird whose courtship dances are elaborate and spectacular! In one display, called “rushing,” the pair race across the water side by…
Read MoreRequest for Specimens
In order to develop our collection and educational displays, the Natural History Centre is asking locals for assistance in obtaining animals who have died of natural causes and are in good condition for taxidermy. How you can help If you…
Read MoreBird Outing Report
Art Martell, one of our summer 2015 speakers, brings groups over from the Comox Valley occasionally to spot birds. He has an amazing amount of knowledge to share. The list below is of species that the group heard or spotted during the…
Read MoreHairy Woodpecker Nest
Take a stroll through the woods on Hornby and there’s a good chance you will come across a hairy woodpecker, the most familiar and widespread woodpecker in North America, or hear their rhythmic drumming in the trees. Our featured treasure…
Read MoreSpeaker Series – Plight of our Forest Birds
August 6: Art Martell, “Changes in Abundance of Some of our Common Forest Birds” Join Art Martell, ornithologist and Important Bird Area Caretaker, to learn about the phenomenon of forest bird disappearance. Presentation begins at 2:00 pm at the Hornby Island Community School. Enter through the…
Read MoreSummer 2015 Events Calendar
We are pleased to announce that the Summer 2015 Natural History Events Calendar is now available! From nature walks that focus on traditional plant knowledge to discussion on groundwater management, and from presentations on forest inhabitants to fun weather station demonstrations,…
Read MoreThe Hayward Heron
Our featured Treasure of the Month for May is a Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias): A grey-blue bird with black plume on his head who stands tall near the herring life-cycle display. On Hornby Island, these birds are found in every season. They are most often spotted…
Read MoreNew Songbird in the Exhibit
The Exhibit now has a pair of Western tanagers! We recently obtained a female tanager who now sits with a male tanager in the exhibit. She is a timely addition as this spring and summer we are working to enhance our songbird display. The new display will tell…
Read MoreTiny Owl, Big Character
The Northern Saw-whet owl at the Natural History Centre was found by Sophie Courteau in the winter of 1995/96. He is a tiny owl with plenty of attitude: Saw-whet’s measure about 20 cm long with a short tail, large head, bright yellow eyes, dark bill, and reddish plumage…
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