The Illustrated Guide to Toronto Island Wildlife

Juvenile night heron, Algonquin Island, Toronto Islands

The Toronto Islands are a veritable paradise for wildlife.  Less than two kilometres from the downtown core of Canada’s largest city, beavers chew, turtles bask, toads sing, herons fish, and mink run wild.  Projecting south from the northern shoreline of Lake Ontario, it’s one of the primary stopping points for migratory species crossing the lake, and a permanent home to geese and ducks of all sorts, beavers, mink, muskrats, and more. Arctic ducks make their home here in the winter, replaced by herons, songbirds, and vast numbers of cormorants and gulls in the summer.

The Illustrated Guide to Toronto Island Wildlife is not currently comprehensive, but is a growing repository of photography and information about the diverse wildlife that inhabits this sandy archipelago.  So many species call the Island home, in fact, that this is a multi-year project with new material being added all the time.  Some species, like the American beaver, are relatively easy to find, while green herons and snowy owls are extremely rare.

Painted turtle riding on another turtle's back, Doughnut Island, Toronto IslandsNorthern pike underwater, Snug Harbour, Toronto IslandsStained beaver teeth, South Island, Toronto IslandsMink portrait, Doughnut Island, Toronto Islands

Above, from left to right: painted turtles, northern pike, beaver, and mink all call the Toronto Islands home.  Top:  a juvenile black-crowned night heron caught in sunset light.

Table of Contents

1.  Species list and migratory status.

Species List and Migratory Status

Category Species Rarity Status Active
Birds Black-crowned night heron Common Migratory March to October
Trumpeter Swan Uncommon Stopover Spring / Fall
Mammals American Beaver Common Permanent Year-Round
Mink Common Permanent Year-Round
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