Ontario Wildlife -
Grow Anywhere Virtual Learning
From deer to dragonflies, Southern Ontario is home to a wide variety of animal species. Check out videos and webinars, watch live bird cams, play games, download activities, and get to know your wild neighbours.
Get to Know Ontario Wildlife
Explore wildlife profiles to learn about creatures great and small.
From the Humber Arboretum
Wildlife videos:
- Cecropia moth
- Go Mothing with Nature Interpreter Laura
- Black swallowtail butterfly
- American robin
- Red fox
Short video clips:
- Hear the call of the Eastern chipmunk in the Arboretum woodlands
- Watch a red squirrel chowing down on a tree cone
- Watch Eastern grey squirrels at the Arboretum bird feeders
Plus, explore an overview of wildlife that lives at the Humber Arboretum on our website.
More Resources
- Video: Watch the archived livestream of the Raccoon Keeper Talk from the Toronto Zoo
- Website: Learn about snakes and turtles from resources provided by Scales Nature Park here in Ontario
- Website: All About Birds - the ultimate online bird guide from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Website: Hinterland Who's Who - wildlife profiles from across Canada, brought to you by the Canadian Wildlife Federation
Wildlife Courses and In-Depth Videos
Take a deeper dive into wildlife topics and issues.
- Made in partnership with the Lakeshore Grounds Interpretive Centre, the short documentary The Whimbrel Watchers (above) looks at a local group of dedicated nature-lovers who monitor whimbrel migration through Colonel Samuel Smith Park in South Etobicoke every spring.
More Viewing
- Watch online episodes of CBC's The Nature of Things which connect with Ontario wildlife:
- The Secret Life of Owls
- A Bee's Diary
- Remarkable Rabbits
- Fox Tales
- The Great Wild Indoors (insects)
- Plus the The Wild Canadian Year series and website
- Watch the 12-episode series City Wildlife Rescue on TVO, profiling the important work of the Toronto Wildlife Centre
Courses and Webinars
- Learn about birds with online courses ($) and free lectures through the Cornell Lab Bird Academy
- Explore an insect's perspective with the online course Bugs 101: Insect-Human Interactions on Coursera
- Enjoy a free Introduction to Animal Behaviour from edx.org
- Learn the basics of Ecology and Wildlife Conservation with a free 4-hour course on FutureLearn
- Watch Forests Ontario archived webinar, Bird and Wildlife Monitoring: Integrating Proven Methods and New Technology to Monitor Wildlife
Wildlife Games and Activities
Explore wildlife through fun games and at-home activities for all ages.
- PDFs: Humber Arboretum wildlife colouring pages include the raccoon, black-capped chickadee, grey squirrel, and green frog. Visit the Printables and Activity Guides page for updates
More Colouring Pages, Activities, and Other Printables
- The Roost from Birds Canada
- Nature Canada's Enjoy Nature for Children
- Royal Botanical Gardens' At-Home Activities for Children
- Earth Rangers Eco-Activities
- 7 Crafts to Get Kids Into Birding from Birdlife International
Online Games
- Be a wildlife DJ, explore adaptations and more with The Cornell Bird Academy Play Lab
- Match animal tracks and go through the life cycle of a salmon with Hinterland Who's Who Games
- Learn about fish tagging and controlling invasive species with Leo's FishFinder on the TVOKids website
Wildlife Web Cams
Watching wildlife is a wonderful past time, but it isn't always possible to spot something outside a nearby window. Live web cams provide another fun way to keep your eye on the natural world from anywhere. Plus, there's no chance that you'll accidentally disturb the wildlife! Use these livestreams to help you practice your identification skills.
Please note that most wildlife web cams are seasonal and even then may only be available for certain hours of the day.
- Do you miss Cleo, the Red-eared slider who lives in the Centre for Urban Ecology? We don't have a webcam set up for her (yet?), but you can check in on this Southern painted turtle in a home aquarium on MyTurtleCam.com
- The Polar Bear Camera from Polar Bears International also offers a Northern Lights Cam in the off-season
- Watch the Brown Bear Cam in Alaska
- Look inside a honey bee hive in Germany
Bird Cameras
- Riverwood Bird Feeder Cam, from the Riverwood Conservancy in Mississauga
- Cornell FeederWatch Cam in New York, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Ontario FeederWatch Cam, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Stanley Park Pacific Great Blue Heron Cam, from the City of Vancouver
- Hummingbird Feeder Cam in West Texas, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Plus a variety of NestCams from the Cornell Lab, including barred owl, red-tailed hawk, and American kestrel