BIRDS OF THE OKANAGAN VALLEY, BRITISH COLUMBIA revisited

Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia revisited

New World warblers have their moments in the sun when their stunning colours seem to eclipse everything else around them, but then they flit into the leaf shadows and are gone. Think of that little flame, the Cape May Warbler, that you finally spotted singing from atop a White Spruce or the dramatic black, green and yellow Townsend’s Warbler whisking through the Douglas-firs like a spot of light. Here and then gone. 

Bird books are similar. The longer you’re a birder, the taller the stack of once must-have/now forgotten books you’ll leave behind. For example, in 1983 you had to have the three volumes of The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding for the latest field identification tips. Since 1983 the Master Guide slipped into the shadows like the Cape May Warbler and really hasn’t been heard of since (though the authors of the Guide were responsible for discovering field marks that have since become part of our modern field guides). Once field identification was dominated by an enormously talented painter-writer with the initials RTP whose field guides were on your shelves and in your car. Now those letters have been obscured by the abbreviations “Sibley” and “Nat. Geo.” However, one book, a study of the birds of one long valley in British Columbia, remains as influential today as it was when it was published over three decades ago and if it’s not in your reference library, it should be. 

As I examine other works of B.C. regional ornithology, it’s clear that Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia remains the very best single work to date. Thirty-two years after its publication, this book by Robert, Sydney and Richard Cannings remains an invaluable resource for naturalists and birders and is widely regarded as one of the best regional ornithological works of North America. There’s still nothing quite like it on the market or online. For anyone who hopes to write a regional bird study, this book stands as a model of the best kind. For the BC birder who wants to know more about the birds he’s seeing, “BOKVBC “is a must have. 

Several factors contribute to its value. No other regional work deals in such a depth of local detail as BOKVBC does, including its clear maps, superb historical photos, and its comprehensive introductions to the valley’s geography, climate, and habitat. Secondly its essays on the geographical composition of its bird fauna and the history of its ornithology serve as valuable context to the book’s 307 species accounts.  Thirdly, each account for the 192 breeding and 92 migrant and/or wintering species of at least casual occurrence contains unusually complete analysis of local data including range within the valley, arrival and departure times, wintering population size (each species’ range, frequency, and mean for Christmas Bird Counts of Vernon, Penticton, and Vaseux Lake), nesting information including habitat preferences, nest sites, laying and incubation data, period of chick dependence, and foraging strategies. Finally, the brief but detailed essay entitled “The Okanagan Birding Year” is as useful today as it was in 1987, and that despite local habitat loss, urbanization, and climate change. It is a synopsis of what a birder can expect to find happening among the birds of the valley. Each month is divided into two with the main avian events described. To paraphrase, from March 16-31, for example, Cassin’s Finches and Spotted Towhees arrive, Common Goldeneyes and American Coots show up in numbers on the lakes and Great Blue Herons arrive at their colonies. Dusky Grouse hoot in the hills and towards the end of the period Ruffed Grouse drum in the draws and Chukars cackle from the cliffs. Red-necked Grebes return. Expect movements of Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels through the valley by month’s end and the return of Brewer’s, Red-winged, and Yellow-head blackbirds in abundance. Early nesting occurs among Common Ravens, Mallards, and Canada Jays. Despite global warming trends, “The Okanagan Birding Year” remains remarkably accurate and useful, as well as serving as a chronological benchmark against which to measure future changes. 

Fans of the online program, eBird, might argue that regional bird books no longer need to be written, since eBird automatically produces bar graph checklists illustrated with the best available bird photographs of local origin. However ebird is a database which does not include life history and ecological information and habitat.  

Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia has aged far better than many of the birders it has served over the years.  The AOU, now the AOS, has shuffled the taxonomic order of the North America bird families at least twice since the book’s publication. The book presents its birds in the old Wetmore order, beginning with loons and ending with weaver finch, not a major problem since you won’t be carrying the volume with you into the field and will have time at home to use the book’s index. The English names of species have fared better than their taxonomic order, with only 15 of the book’s 307 species having official name changes. These include Green-backed Heron which was flipped back to Green Heron; Oldsquaw which is now known by its non-racist Old World name, Long-tailed Duck; Rock Dove which became Rock Pigeon (and almost no one cares), and most recently Gray Jay became Canada Jay. 

Since 1987 the Okanagan has gained several species due to taxonomic splits including Cackling Goose, American and Pacific golden-plovers, Pacific and Winter wrens, and Bullock’s and Baltimore orioles.

Next to Vancouver and Victoria, no area in B.C. has gained more accidental and casual species than the Okanagan Valley, partially because over the years several of the province’s top birders have lived there. About 40 species have been added to the Okanagan checklist since 1987. These include Tufted Duck, Black Scoter, Clark’s Grebe, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruff, White-rumped Sandpiper, Little Gull, Western Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Least Tern, Brown Pelican, Snowy Egret, White-faced Ibis, Black Vulture, Broad-winged Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Vireo, Winter Wren, Sedge Wren, Bewick’s Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Brambling, Lesser Goldfinch, Green-tailed Towhee, Orchard Oriole, Great-tailed Grackle, Black-and-white Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Lucy’s Warbler, Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Summer Tanager and Indigo Bunting.  The majority of these species are of accidental or casual status and as such don’t affect the main contents of BOKVBC. 

Species that have experienced substantive changes in status since the book’s publications are far fewer. Changes in birds’ status within the valley are a topic deserving its own article, if not book, and of course I encourage the authors to revise Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, but given that Robert, Syd and Richard are busy men, I don’t expect this to happen any time soon. So for the purposes of this article let a few examples of changes suffice. There has been a dramatic increase in Broad-winged Hawks appearing as autumn migrants.  The Burrowing Owl re-introductions initiated in the 1980s have not been successful to date in spite of huge volunteer effort. A few species have finally been documented as Okanagan breeders like the Great Gray Owl. Pure and hybrid Glaucous-winged Gulls have been increased as residents. One or two Lesser Black-backed Gulls make almost annual winter visits. Bewick’s Wren established itself as an uncommon resident in at least as far north as Kelowna, and Lesser Goldfinches show signs of becoming local breeders near Osoyoos. 

Whether you’re a young birder who has not yet had a chance to purchase a copy of Birds of the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia or a someone who has come late to birding, now is a good time to look for second hand copies as birders who have aged beyond the demands of their hobby down-size their book collections. At a Vernon second hand bookstore I frequent, there’s almost always at least one copy for sale. Expect to pay about $35.00 for the sturdy soft cover edition and more for the much scarcer hard cover. Hard cover or soft, this is one book every birder living in or visiting the Okanagan Valley will find rewarding and well worth the purchase price.