Did you see a PINK bird in Canada?

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#1. House Finch

• Haemorhous mexicanus

Identifying Characteristics:

• Males are pinkish around their heads and upper breasts. They have brown streaks on their back, tail, and belly.
• Females are brown with streaks on their back, tail, and belly.
• Both sexes have notched tails and conical beaks designed to eat seeds.

It’s common to see these pink birds in Canada near people.

Look for them around buildings, backyards, parks, and other urban and suburban areas. As you can see, only males have pinkish-red coloring.

House Finch Range Map

House Finches are often the first birds to discover new bird feeders. These birds are intensely curious and rarely travel alone, so their arrival often helps other birds find your feeders, too! I see them eating sunflower, Nyjer, and safflower seeds in my yard.

• RELATED: Bird Seed 101: The 10 Best Types For Wild Birds!

House Finches have an enjoyable song, which can be heard year-round. Listen below to a series of jumbled, warbled notes.

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#2. Purple Finch

• Haemorhous purpureus

Identifying Characteristics:

• Small, with a conical seed-eating bill.
• Males have a raspberry red or pink head, breast, and back.
• Females have prominent streaks of white and brown below, with strong facial markings, including a whitish eyebrow and a dark line down the side of the throat.

Male Purple Finches are described as looking like they were dipped in raspberry juice.

Look for these beautiful pink birds visiting feeders in Canada, especially during winter. Your best chance to attract them is using black-oil sunflower seeds. Having conifer trees in your yard is also a great way to encourage them to visit.

Purple Finch Range Map

Purple Finches can be challenging to identify because they look incredibly similar to the more common House Finch. I’ve made this mistake many times, believing that I saw a Purple Finch when it was, in fact, just another House Finch. To tell them apart, look at their back. The Purple Finch’s back has pink or red coloring, while the back of a House Finch has none.

Males sing a rich, musical warble. Listen below!

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#3. Mourning Dove

• Zenaida macroura

Identifying Characteristics:

• A mostly grayish dove with large black spots on the wings and a long, thin tail.
• Look for pinkish legs, a black bill, and a distinctive blue eye ring.
• Males and females look the same.

This species is one of the most common birds in Canada.

But at first glance, it’s hard to see any pink coloring on them. But look closer, and you will notice that Mourning Doves have PINK legs! 🙂

Mourning Dove Range Map

Mourning Doves are common visitors to bird feeding stations. They need a flat place to feed, so the best feeders for them are trays or platforms. They are most comfortable feeding on the ground, so throw a bunch of food there, too.

• RELATED: The 15 Best Bird Feeders In MY Backyard! (UPDATED)

It’s common to hear these pink-legged birds in Canada.

Listen for a low “coo-ah, coo, coo, coo.” In fact, this mournful sound is how the dove got its name! Many people commonly mistake this sound for an owl. (Press PLAY below!)

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#4. White-winged Crossbill

• Loxia leucoptera

Identifying Characteristics:

• Look for the crisscrossed bill, which is used to separate pinecone scales to access the seeds.
• Males are rose-pink with black wings and tails. Look for two white lines of contrasting color across the middle of the wing.
• Females and young males are yellowish but with the same wing and tail pattern as the adult males.

White-winged Crossbills get their name from the shape of their bill! These unique beaks are perfect for cracking open pinecones to access the seeds inside.

Crossbills LOVE eating conifer seeds and can consume up to 3,000 each day. In fact, some people can locate these pink birds in Canada by hearing them crunching while opening cones in the trees.

White-winged Crossbill Range Map

White-winged Crossbills are opportunistic breeders. As long as adequate food is available, females will breed at ANY time of the year.

Both sexes sing a mixture of vigorous and scattered chirps, warbles, and rattles. Listen below!

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#5. Cassin’s Finch

• Haemorhous cassinii

Identifying Characteristics:

• Small finches with short-medium tails, streaked feathers, and thick bills.
• Males are rosy pink all over with more red on top of their heads.
• Females and young Cassin’s Finches are brown and white birds with dark streaks on the chest and underparts.

Male birds get the reddish-pink coloring on the top of their head from eating colorful foods like the berries of firethorn plants.

Cassin’s Finches visit feeders in the winter that provide sunflower seeds. They also like shrubs with fruit, such as mulberry, firethorn, or grape bushes. Interestingly, they crave salt and are often found visiting deposits of minerals on the ground.

Cassin’s Finch Range Map

Their songs tend to imitate other birds, and both males and females sing. Listen below as a male Cassin’s Finch sings a joyful song with a quick series of short sounds.

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#6: Anna’s Hummingbird

• Calypte anna

How To Identify:

• Males: They are best known for their beautiful iridescent pinkish-red heads. The underparts are a mix between gray and green.
• Females: Duller than the males, with a green cap and body. Their tail has a white tip. Many birds have a patch of metallic pink or red on their throat.

These tiny birds are no larger than a ping-pong ball and weigh about the same as a nickel.

Anna’s Hummingbirds are different from most other hummers since they don’t migrate much, if at all. These pink-throated birds are year-round residents in Canada. They have varied habitats, including deserts, mountains, woodlands, gardens, and chaparral.

Anna’s Hummingbird Range Map

To help locate these hummingbirds, listen for a long song that often lasts ten seconds or more. The song starts with a series of buzzes, followed by a pleasant-sounding whistle. The entire sequence can last more than ten seconds and typically finishes with some chip notes.

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#7. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

• Leucosticte tephrocotis

Identifying Characteristics:

• Males are a rich brown. Look for pink plumage on the body, a gray head, and a black forecrown, throat, and bill.
• Females are similar but with fewer amounts of pink, and their bill is yellow.

These pink birds are found at high elevations in Canada!

Look for them high on mountains or cliffs where they forage among loose stones, glaciers, meadows, and even avalanche areas. They even nest on the slopes of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America.

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch Range Map

Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches may visit backyard bird feeders in the winter when they come down from the mountains. They like to eat black oil sunflower seeds scattered on the ground or in platform feeders.

Listen below to this Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches chattering cheep cheep song.

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Learn more about other birds in Canada!

• The 39 MOST Common Birds in Canada!

• Birds that are Orange in Canada (11 Species)           

• Grey Birds in Canada! (14 Species)

• 9 Purple Birds found in Canada

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Which of these pink birds have you seen in Canada?

Let us know in the comments!