Birding at Northwind Lodge

List of species:

Regular – Expected to occur every year (225 species)

Casual – Not expected to occur every year but will occur irregularly (45 species)

 Season Status

Migrant – Occurs as a migrant in spring and/or fall. Timing of migration varies by species group.  Overall, spring migration can occur from late March (eagles) through early June (some warblers) and fall migration from mid-July (shorebirds) through December (finches). The bulk of the passerine (songbirds) spring migration is from mid-April through late May and the fall migration from mid-August through September.

Winter – Occurs during the winter season: December, January, February

Summer – Occurs during the breeding season that for passerines is June and July.

Some species may start the breeding season as early as April. Many summer resident species are also migrants since their breeding ranges extend far north of Minnesota.

Note: Although a species may occur in all seasons, very few are truly permanent residents, meaning occurring in the same territory year round. The list includes both grouse species, pigeon, great horned and barred owl, downy, hairy and pileated woodpecker, gray and blue jay, raven, both chickadees, red-breasted nuthatch, house finch and house sparrow. Goshawk and other owls may also be permanent residents.

 General Breeding Habitat:

The terms used are general and just descriptive; no habitat scheme is utilized. The national forest is a mosaic of many different habitat types. It is heavily forested with about 90% of the land in natural vegetation, either forest, shrubland (including cutover), or bog/marsh/fen. About 9% of the national forest is water and only 1% is developed (fields and towns which include the cities of Ely, Hoyt Lakes and Grand Marais).

The forest is principally made up of 8 species of conifer trees and 11 of deciduous (hardwood) trees plus 12 tall shrubs and minor trees. The trees commonly occur in mixtures of 2 to 6 species per stand and stand patches vary in size and gradations across the landscape. The resulting forest is very diverse in composition, age and patch pattern which provides many diverse niches for breeding species. The dominant upland forest types are aspen/birch/spruce/fir (59%), red and white pine (8%), jack pine (8%) and northern hardwoods (3%); the lowland forest types are black spruce/tamarack (17%), cedar (3%) and lowland hardwoods (1%).

 Breeding Abundance (163 species):

The abundance categories are based on monitoring across the whole forest and represent relative population numbers for this large area rather than the ease of finding or seeing species. The national forest is fortunate to have two sources of monitoring data:

• North American Breeding Bird Survey (http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov). There are five routes completely in the forest plus four partly; two routes have been run continuously since the early 1970s. The five routes are Lockport, Sawbill Landing, Crane Lake, Sawbill Camp, and Jordan; the partial routes are Hovland, Hart Lake, Babbitt, and Glendale.
•  Breeding Bird Monitoring in Great Lakes National Forests (http://www.nrri.umn.edu/mnbirds).

For the Superior National Forest this program includes 15 years (1991-2005) of point count data on 164 stands stratified randomly across the forested land (excluding lakes, fens, marshes). For this checklist the data from these two programs was combined into five abundance categories: Abundant (8 species); Common (25 species); Uncommon (35 species); Rare (36 species); and Very Rare (59 species). The abundant and common classes together make up about 90% of the total record of individuals. Some species are rare because of lack of habitat; other because they are at the edge of their range. The accuracy of this scheme is best for passerines that breed in forested habitats.

	REGULAR SPECIES (225)		Seasonal Status		General	Breeding
Image	(Expected to occur every year)	Migrant	Win	Sum	breeding	abundance
					habitat	(163 sp.)
	Ducks, Geese, Swans
	Snow Goose	X
	Cackling Goose	X
	Canada Goose	X		X	lake	rare
	Tundra Swan	X
	Wood Duck	X		X	pond	very rare
	Gadwall	X
	American Wigeon	X
	American Black Duck	X		X	lake; pond	rare
	Mallard	X	X	X	lake; pond	uncommon
	Blue-winged Teal	X		X	pond	very rare
	Northern Shoveler	X
	Northern Pintail	X
	Green-winged Teal	X		X	pond	very rare
	Canvasback	X
	Redhead	X
	Ring-necked Duck	X		X	lake	uncommon
	Greater Scaup	X
	Lesser Scaup	X
	Harlequin Duck	X	X
	Common Goldeneye	X	X	X	lake	uncommon
	Hooded Merganser	X		X	lake; pond	rare
	Common Merganser	X	X	X	lake; river	uncommon
	Red-breasted Merganser	X	X	X	lake	very rare
	Partridge, Grouse, Turkey
	Ruffed Grouse	X	X	X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Spruce Grouse	X	X	X	forest; bog	very rare
	Loons
	Common Loon	X		X	lake	uncommon
	Grebes
	Pied-billed Grebe	X		X	pond	very rare
	Horned Grebe	X	X
	Cormorants
	Double-crested Cormorant	X		X	island; Lk Superior	very rare
	Herons & Bitterns
	American Bittern	X		X	marsh	rare
	Great Blue Heron	X		X	pond	rare
	New World Vultures
	Turkey Vulture	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon

Image		Migrant	Win	Sum	Habitat	Abundance
	Hawks & Eagles
	Osprey	X		X	lake; swamp	rare
	Bald Eagle	X	X	X	lake; big pines	rare
	Northen Harrier	X		X	marsh	very rare
	Sharp-shinned Hawk	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Cooper’s Hawk	X		X	mixed forest	very rare
	Northern Goshawk	X		X	mixed forest	very rare
	Broad-winged Hawk	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Red-tailed Hawk	X	X	X	forest edge	rare
	Rough-legged Hawk	X	X
	Golden Eagle	X
	Falcons
	American Kestrel	X		X	forest edge	rare
	Merlin	X		X	mixed forest	rare
	Peregrine Falcon	X		X	cliff	very rare
	Rails, Gallinules, Coots
	Virginia Rail	X		X	marsh	very rare
	Sora	X		X	marsh	very rare
	American Coot	X
	Cranes
	Sandhill Crane	X		X	fen; bog	very rare
	Plovers
	Killdeer	X		X	field; gravel pit	very rare
	Sandpipers & Phalaropes
	Greater Yellowlegs	X
	Lesser Yellowlegs	X
	Solitary Sandpiper	X		X	pond	very rare
	Spotted Sandpiper	X		X	stream; lake	uncommon
	American Woodcock	X		X	mixed forest	rare
	Wilson’s Phalarope	X		X	marsh	very rare
	Gulls
	Bonaparte’s Gull	X
	Ring-billed Gull	X		X	island	very rare
	Herring Gull	X	X	X	island	uncommon
	Thayer’s Gull	X	X
	Glaucous Gull	X	X

Image		Migrant	Win	Sum	Habitat	Abundance
	Pigeons & Doves
	Rock Pigeon	X	X	X	town	very rare
	Mourning Dove	X		X	town	very rare
	Cuckoos
	Black-billed Cuckoo	X		X	mixed forest	rare
	Yellow-billed Cuckoo	X		X	hardwood forest	very rare
	Owls
	Great Horned Owl	X	X	X	forest edge	very rare
	Snowy Owl	X	X
	Northern Hawk-Owl	X	X	X	bog; forest	very rare
	Barred Owl	X	X	X	mixed forest	rare
	Great Gray Owl	X	X	X	bog; forest	very rare
	Long-eared Owl	X		X	mixed forest	very rare
	Short-eared Owl	X
	Boreal Owl	X	X	X	forest; bog	very rare
	Northern Saw-whet Owl	X	X	X	mixed forest	rare
	Nighthawks & Nightjars
	Common Nighthawk	X		X	ledge; town	rare
	Whip-poor-will	X		X	mixed forest	very rare
	Swifts
	Chimney Swift	X		X	town; forest	very rare
	Hummingbirds
	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	X		X	forest edge	rare
	Kingfishers
	Belted Kingfisher	X		X	stream; bank	uncommon
	Woodpeckers
	Red-headed Woodpecker	X		X	open forest; burn	very rare
	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Downy Woodpecker	X	X	X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Hairy Woodpecker	X	X	X	mixed forest	uncommon
	American Three-toed Woodpecker	X	X	X	dying forest	very rare
	Black-backed Woodpecker	X	X	X	dying forest	very rare
	Northern Flicker	X		X	forest edge	common
	Pileated Woodpecker	X	X	X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Tyrant Flycatchers
	Olive-sided Flycatcher	X		X	open forest; burn	rare
	Eastern Wood-Pewee	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Yellow-bellied Flycatcher	X		X	conifer forest	common
	Alder Flycatcher	X		X	shrub; wetland	common
	Least Flycatcher	X		X	hardwood forest	common
	Eastern Phoebe	X		X	forest edge	rare
	Great Crested Flycatcher	X		X	mixed forest	rare
	Eastern Kingbird	X		X	field; pond	rare
	Shrikes
	Northern Shrike	X	X
	Vireos
	Yellow-throated Vireo	X		X	hardwood forest	very rare
	Blue-headed Vireo	X		X	conifer forest	uncommon
	Warbling Vireo	X		X	hardwood forest	very rare
	Philadelphia Vireo	X		X	hardwood forest	very rare
	Red-eyed Vireo	X		X	mixed forest	abundant

Image		Migrant	Win	Sum	Habitat	Abundance
	Jays & Crows
	Gray Jay	X	X	X	forest; bog	uncommon
	Blue Jay	X	X	X	forest; town	common
	American Crow	X	X	X	field; town	uncommon
	Common Raven	X	X	X	forest; cliff	uncommon
	Larks
	Horned Lark	X
	Swallows
	Purple Martin	X		X	lakeshore	very rare
	Tree Swallow	X		X	pond; lakeshore	rare
	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	X		X	bank; lakeshore	very rare
	Bank Swallow	X		X	bank; gravel pit	very rare
	Cliff Swallow	X		X	building	very rare
	Barn Swallow	X		X	cliff; building	rare
	Chickadees & Titmouse
	Black-capped Chickadee	X	X	X	mixed forest	common
	Boreal Chickadee	X	X	X	conifer forest;bog	very rare
	Nuthatches
	Red-breasted Nuthatch	X	X	X	mixed forest	common
	White-breasted Nuthatch	X	X	X	hardwood forest	very rare
	Creepers
	Brown Creeper	X		X	mixed forest	uncommon
	Wrens
	House Wren	X		X	forest edge	rare
	Winter Wren	X		X	mixed forest	common
	Sedge Wren	X		X	field; fen	rare
	Marsh Wren	X		X	marsh	very rare
	Kinglets
	Golden-crowned Kinglet	X		X	mixed forest	common
	Ruby-crowned Kinglet	X		X	conifer forest; bog	uncommon
	Thrushes
	Eastern Bluebird	X		X	field; forest burn	very rare
	Townsend’s Solitaire	X	X
	Veery	X		X	mixed forest	abundant
	Gray-cheeked Thrush	X
	Swainson’s Thrush	X		X	mixed forest	common
	Hermit Thrush	X		X	mixed forest	common
	Wood Thrush	X		X	hardwood forest	very rare
	American Robin	X	X	X	forest; town	abundant
	Varied Thrush	X
	Mockingbirds & Thrashers
	Gray Catbird	X		X	forest edge	rare
	Brown Thrasher	X		X	forest edge	very rare
	Starlings
	European Starling	X	X	X	field; town	rare
	Pipits
	American Pipit	X
	Waxwings
	Bohemian Waxwing	X	X
	Cedar Waxwing	X	X	X	forest edge	common

Golden-winged Warbler

X

X

wetland shrub

rare

Tennessee Warbler

X

X

bog; forest shrub

uncommon

Orange-crowned Warbler

X

Nashville Warbler

X

X

forest shrub; bog

abundant

Northern Parula

X

X

conifer forest

common

Yellow Warbler

X

X

lakeshore; town

rare

Chestnut-sided Warbler

X

X

forest shrub

abundant

Magnolia Warbler

X

X

conifer forest

common

Cape May Warbler

X

X

conifer forest

uncommon

Black-throated Blue Warbler

X

X

hardwood forest

rare

Yellow-rumped Warbler

X

X

mixed forest

common

Black-throated Green Warbler

X

X

mixed forest

common

Blackburnian Warbler

X

X

conifer forest

common

Pine Warbler

X

X

pine forest

uncommon

Palm Warbler

X

X

bog; forest shrub

rare

Bay-breasted Warbler

X

X

mixed forest

very rare

Blackpoll Warbler

X

Black-and-white Warbler

X

X

mixed forest

common

American Redstart

X

X

mixed forest

common

Ovenbird

X

X

mixed forest

abundant

Northern Waterthrush

X

X

swamp; lakeshore

uncommon

Connecticut Warbler

X

X

forest bog

uncommon

Mourning Warbler

X

X

forest edge

abundant

Common Yellowthroat

X

X

shrub; wetland

common

Wilson’s Warbler

X

X

shrub; wetland

very rare

Canada Warbler

X

X

hardwood forest

common

Tanagers

Scarlet Tanager

X

X

hardwood forest

uncommon

Towhees, Sparrows, Longspurs

Eastern Towhee

X

X

forest edge

very rare

American Tree Sparrow

X

X

Chipping Sparrow

X

X

forest; town

common

Clay-colored Sparrow

X

X

shrubby field

rare

Vesper Sparrow

X

X

field

very rare

Savannah Sparrow

X

X

field

very rare

Le Conte’s Sparrow

X

X

field; fen

very rare

Fox Sparrow

X

Song Sparrow

X

X

shrub; town

common

Lincoln’s Sparrow

X

X

bog; forest shrub

uncommon

Swamp Sparrow

X

X

swamp; fen shrub

common

White-throated Sparrow

X

X

mixed forest

abundant

Harris’s Sparrow

X

White-crowned Sparrow

X

Dark-eyed Junco

X

X

X

conifer forest

rare

Lapland Longspur

X

Snow Bunting

X

X

Cardinals & Grosbeaks

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

X

X

mixed forest

common

Indigo Bunting

X

X

forest edge

rare

Blackbirds & Orioles

Bobolink

X

X

field

very rare

Red-winged Blackbird

X

X

wetland; pond

uncommon

Eastern Meadowlark

X

X

field

very rare

Western Meadowlark

X

Rusty Blackbird

X

X

wetland; pond

very rare

Brewer’s Blackbird

X

X

field

very rare

Common Grackle

X

X

wetland edge; town

rare

Brown-headed Cowbird

X

X

farm; field

rare

Baltimore Oriole

X

X

forest; town

very rare

Finches

Pine Grosbeak

X

X

Purple Finch

X

X

X

mixed forest

uncommon

House Finch

X

X

X

town

very rare

Red Crossbill

X

X

X

conifer forest

very rare

White-winged Crossbill

X

X

X

conifer forest

very rare

Common Redpoll

X

X

Hoary Redpoll

X

X

Pine Siskin

X

X

X

conifer forest

rare

American Goldfinch

X

X

X

forest shrub

uncommon

Evening Grosbeak

X

X

X

conifer forest

uncommon

Old World Sparrows

House Sparrow

X

X

X

town; farm

very rare

CASUAL SPECIES

45 species

(Not expected to occur every year, but will occur irregularly)

Greater White-fronted Goose

Trumpeter Swan

Swan

Ruddy Duck

Sharp-tailed Grouse

Eared Grebe

Western Grebe

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron

Red-shouldered Hawk

Gyrfalcon

Yellow Rail

Field Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Summer Tanager

Northern Mocking Bird

Black-Billed Magpie