If you love nature and wildlife viewing, then be sure to add the province of British Columbia, Canada to your destination list. This beautiful province is rich in wildlife viewing areas and has an abundance of extraordinary animal and bird species.

Bird Watching

If you enjoy bird watching, British Columbia will fulfill your wildest dreams. See Green Herons, Aise Swallowtails as well as Trumpeter swans and hundreds of other bird species. British Columbia is home to the Pacific Flyway. Over a million birds use the Flyway annually to migrate. Thousands of bird species live in the province year ‘round, so there are bird watching opportunities available in every season.

Pacific Gray Whales

Each year you can view Pacific Gray Whales migrate in the waters off the coast of British Columbia. The migration includes the entire global population of these magnificent creatures.

Other Wildlife Species

As you drive along British Columbia’s highways, you will see bighorn sheep, black and grizzly bears, moose, caribou, elk and mountain goats. In certain areas you may even spot a Kermode bear, known as the Spirit Bear to the natives of the province. This rare species of bear is a rare subspecies of the black bear that carries a special gene that makes their offspring a honey color.

Vancouver Island Wildlife Viewing

If you are looking for the ultimate wildlife viewing experience, you will find it on Vancouver Island. Here you can watch diverse species of whales breaching, feeding, migrating and spy-hopping. Visitors can book a whale watching tour in any large town of the area.

Whales

If you are interested in watching gray whales migrate, visit the area in the spring. Gray whales migrate in March and April, although a few remain in the area off the west coast during the summer months. This allows visitors whale watching opportunities for the entire summer and into autumn, when the gray whales move to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter.

Orca whales, also known as killer whales, can be seen off the south coast of Vancouver Island from early May to late September. Off the north coast of the Island, they can be seen from July to the beginning of September.