Recreational Bird Watching (Birding)

Terrestrial Wildlife: Bird Watching - SongbirdWhether you are a novice or an expert, the Superior is a great place to hone your birding skills.  With a list of 225 bird regularly seen in the Forest including 163 which nest here, you can see why it has been labeled a Globally Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society. 

This page contains links to tools which will help you locate birds and cross some off your personal checklist.  Our Bird Conservation and Monitoring page has links to projects in which our Forest biologists are engaged to help our bird populations.

As with most animals, habitat is crucial for birds.  The Superior is shaped by fire and water, creating a mosaic of habitat which ranges from stands of old growth pine to bogs and meadows.  It is a large area of about 3 million acres, most of which is under public ownership allowing access to many good birding areas.  About 90% of the Superior is in natural vegetation:  forests, shrublands (including harvest sites), and wetlands like bogs, marshes, and fens.  Another 9% of the landscape is water - 2,000 permanent lakes and ponds and innumerable vernal pools. Its forests are a mixture of the northern boreal forest types and the southern deciduous forest types; many species are near the edge of their range on the Superior.   The Lake Superior shore on the eastern edge of the Forest provides a unique opportunity for birding along a major migratory flyway where sightings can include seabirds far from their usual homes. 

We have five publications to help with your birding.

Our two birding guides show locations of habitat types and possible bird species found there on the west side (Laurentian, LaCroix, and Kawishiwi Ranger Districts) and east side (Tofte and Gunflint Ranger Districts) of the Forest.  Many of these sites include trails, but some are right at the roadside.

To help navigate, there are two associated georeferenced PDF maps.  These are printable, but are designed for use with a phone using a wayfinding app such as Avenza.  Birding locations are shown on the geopdf, but you will need the associated Birding Location Guide for the habitat and bird information.  As with all electronic navigation aids, we recommend you also have a paper copy of the Forest Visitor map which shows all the roads and features.

Finally, we also have a birding checklist showing all the bird species recorded on the Superior and the season and habitat where they are most likely to be found in a handy printable backpocket sized format.