Stansell’s List

Stansell's list at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library

Sidney Stansell's Lost List: The Birds of Alberta, as of 1923

By John Acorn, Fauve Blanchard, and Melanie Mullin

Have you ever wondered what the birdlife of Alberta was like a century ago? Some published information exists, but there was a period during the early 1900s when very little was being written about the changing status of Alberta birds. Fortunately, a 1923 manuscript, Birds of Alberta, has recently come to light. The author, Sidney Stansell, was a schoolteacher, amateur ornithologist, and bird appreciation advocate. Here we present an annotated transcription of this historical list.