Fort McKay

History

Around 1870, the Hudson's Bay Company founded a post called Old Red River House at the confluence of the Red (now called the MacKay River) and Athabasca rivers. It was also known as the Little Red River post, although another post at the confluence of Little Red River (now the Mikkwa River) and Peace River also went by the same name. The community was renamed in 1912 after Dr. William Morrison MacKay, the first president of the Northern Alberta Medical Association. The change was recognized by the RM on January 22, 2018.

Geography

;Climate Fort McKay has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc). and falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 3a. Summers are mild and short, and winters can be long and cold.

Most-observed species

• White-throated Sparrow

  Zonotrichia albicollis (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  393
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  343
• Tennessee Warbler

  Leiothlypis peregrina (A.Wilson, 1811) · Aves
  319
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  315
• Gray Jay

  Perisoreus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  314
• Chipping Sparrow

  Spizella passerina (Bechstein, 1798) · Aves
  269
• Swainson's Thrush

  Catharus ustulatus (Nuttall, 1840) · Aves
  265
• Ovenbird

  Seiurus aurocapilla (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  251