The Iron Range is home to over 155 nesting species of birds. Our most popular common birds for viewing are the common loon, bald eagle, sharp-tailed grouse, great gray owl, snowy owl, northern hawk owl, and numerous warblers.
Nearby Lake Vermilion has over 265 nesting loons. Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely has nesting eagle areas, and the Department of Natural Resources have sharp-tailed grouse blinds that may be reserved for this elusive bird's viewing. The Sax-Zim Bog is the place for owl viewing and McCarthy Beach State Park in Side Lake hosts over 175 bird species including many warblers.
With over 175 miles of hiking trails, 320,000 acres of the Superior National Forest and 500 lakes and rivers, there is no better place in Minnesota to view so many varieties of birds during your vacation.
All of our birding & wildlife areas offer their own unique host species of birds and wildlife and nowhere in Minnesota can you find so many birding areas so close together. That's why birders travel from all across the world to spend time in our pristine wilderness setting, not to mention to enjoy our wonderful hospitality and service.
Our easy accessible road system and state scenic byways allows birders of all ages and ability to view our beautiful and abundance species, sometimes without leaving your car.
We invite you to view our most common species found on the Iron Range and get out your lifetime birding checklist & get ready to check off some long sought after species and discover why the Iron Range is "A Great Way to Getaway!"
Common Loon
The common loon is more than a bird in Minnesota -- and it is more than the official "state bird." It is a symbol of pristine Iron Range lakes, sparkling blue waters and forested Northwoods environments that provide us with both solitude and inspiration. With an estimated adult population of 12,000 loons, Minnesota has the largest number of these birds in the contiguous 48 states.
The common loon regularly nests in the state, but on rare occasions red-throated, Pacific and yellow-billed loons have all been seen. If you see one of these rare loons you are encouraged to report them to the Minnesota Ornithologists Union (MOU) rare bird alert.
Loons prefer clear lakes with plenty of small fish and a quiet bay with undeveloped shoreline for nesting. Lakes with high use of motorboats and personal watercraft can cause too much disturbance for loons to nest successfully. Adults or their chicks are sometimes run over by careless or irresponsible operators of boats or personal watercraft.
Loons may nest on lakes as small as 15 acres, but they usually nest on larger lakes. While nesting, they are territorial and will chase away other loons. A will defend an area up to 100 acres on larger lakes. Loons without chicks may visit lakes as small groups in mid to late summer.
Loons return from their wintering grounds in late March to late April, depending on when the lake ice breaks up. While some winter in the Gulf of Mexico along the Florida panhandle, others winter of the coast of North Carolina. Upon arriving in Minnesota, loons may stay in the open water of rivers until the lakes open up.
Nesting begins in May and most chicks hatch in early June. Loons nest are usually located at the water's edge on an island or point of land in a fairly wind-sheltered location. One or two eggs are usually laid. Late clutches and re-nesting efforts may cause some chicks to hatch in July. One of the most enjoyable sights on Iron Range lakes is watching a pair of adult loons fishing and passing small minnows to their chicks. The chick frequently rides on the back of a parent -- apparently to conserve body heat and to avoid being eaten by large pike or bass.
The best way to see loons is to explore a lake by canoe, boat or pontoon. Staying at a lakeshore campground or resort may provide opportunities to see loons during the day and hear their haunting calls at night.
Top Loon Facts:
The loon population on Lake Vermilion has risen from 166 in 1983 to 256 in 2000.
Loons dive up to 200 feet and stay down five to ten minutes in search of small fish.
These birds are powerful flyers, reaching speeds up to 80 mph.
Loons may grow to 25" tall, weighing eight to 10 pounds with a five-foot wingspan.
Loons return to the same territory year after year.
Loons may live to be more than 20 years old.
It is thought that the majority of loons in Lake Vermilion migrate to the Gulf of Mexico.
Loons can adapt from fresh to salt water because of special glands near their eyes that excrete sale, allowing them to live in salt water for long periods.
Visit loon photographer Gregory Nelson to see his fabulous photos and hear the different voices of the loon.
Bald Eagle
Seeing a bald eagle may have been a once in a lifetime experience thirty years ago, but today seeing an eagle can easily occur while driving on the Iron Range, walking through our beautiful northwoods or fishing on our crystal blue waters.
Eagles in Summer
Minnesotans enjoy the largest population of bald eagles in the 48 contiguous states except for Florida. There are more than 650 nesting pairs, and the numbers continue to climb by about 30 to 40 pairs per year. This is in contrast to only about 40 pairs in 1963.
If you wish to see eagles in the summer it involves viewing them during the nesting season when they are more sensitive to disturbance. Eagles typically build their nests at the top of tall while or red pines or in tall aspen or cottonwood trees along the shorelines of lakes and rivers. On lakes heavily used by boats, it is usually acceptable to view the eagles from a boat at a distance because the eagles are accustomed to boating activity. Do not go ashore near the nesting tree. Such visits can disturb the eagles while they are incubating eggs or caring for young.
Eagles have become increasingly visible in summer during the recent years. A pair of eagles nest in Bear Head Lake State Park north of Tower and Soudan. Lakeshore nests are fairly common at many of the larger lakes on the Iron Range. Lake Vermilion is known for its nesting eagles. Eagles and other wildlife can be viewed on the Lake Vermilion Wildlife Tours or the Lake Vermilion Mailboat Tours. The Superior National Forest Scenic Byway, which connects the North Shore and Silver bay to Hoyt Lakes on the Iron Range in only one hour, is a great place for the possibility of seeing a bald eagle. Bald eagle sightings have been more common on Highway 169 between Virginia and Hibbing, Highway 53 north between Eveleth and Cotton, and Highway 169 north from Virginia to Tower.
The best way to enjoy eagles is at a distance with binoculars or a spotting scope.
Eagles in Winter The best time to look for bald eagles is from October through March. As winter approaches, eagles concentrate along the few remaining places where the lakes or rivers stay open during the winter. Watch for eagles perched in trees along rivers. You will need a spotting scope or binoculars. Some will be all brown and quite hard to see without a spotting scope. Those are immature eagles that lack white heads and tails. Eagles do not get their white head and tails until their fourth year.
Adult bald eagles are easier to see because their white heads stand out against the brown background of the trees. By mid morning the eagles make frequent flights over the water to catch fish or to attempt to catch the mallards, goldeneyes and common mergansers that are wintering there. Bear Head Lake State Park and the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway are popular winter eagle viewing possibilities.
We invite you to enjoy our national treasure, the bald eagle as you discover why the Iron Range is "A Great Way to Getaway!"
Sharp-tailed Grouse on the Iron Range
The sharp-tailed grouse is a member of the grouse family and is characteristic of "brushland" habitats of northeastern Minnesota. At one time a common bird of the state's prairies, sharp-tailed grouse have declined significantly due to changing habitat conditions. Reasons for their decline include large-scale land conversion, succession of brushlands into forest, reforestation of brushland habitats and an absence of fires that tend to maintain brushland.
The Iron Range region has two sharp-tailed grouse blinds open to the public and available by reservation through the Minnesota DNR. They are surveyed by DNR wildlife managers every year.
As a game bird, the sharp tailed grouse is popular among hunters who use pointing dogs to locate them during the fall hunting season. The annual harvest of sharp-tailed grouse has declined from over 100,000 in the 1940's to about 5000 in recent years.
These grouse are about the size of a hen pheasant, with a sandy brown mottled body that is lightly speckled with brown on the belly. In contrast, a prairie chicken has a heavily barred breast and it is darker brown above. The males have purplish neck sacs that are inflated during the courtship displays. Their tail feathers all end as a pointed tip and this is the feature that gives them their name. In contrast, a prairie chicken has a squared off tip to its tail.
The vegetarian diet of this grouse is comprised of items like bearberry, rose hips, wild buckwheat, Labrador tea, blueberry and leatherleaf.
Although it is possible to see sharp-tailed grouse in brushlands as they fly from night roosting sites to daytime feeding areas, the most memorable way to experience them is to watch at close range from a blind on one of their spring dancing grounds, called "leks." Leks are on open grassland or old-field sites that are usually slightly higher than the surrounding countryside. Males fly to the lek before sunrise and begin their elaborate dancing displays to attract the hens. The dancing continues until about 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning. It can be observed from March through May, with a peak of activity in April. The birds are most active on days with little wind.
Sharp-tailed dancing grounds should be visited cautiously to make sure they are not disturbed during the dancing process. The best way to watch sharptails is from a "blind" that has been previously placed on the lek. Schedule your visits so you are in the blind by 4:00 am. Several blinds are available at no charge to the public at various locations. The contact wildlife managers and their phone numbers are shown here. Reservations are mandatory and issued on a first come, first serve basis, so book your reservations well before the dancing season begins in March.
To reserve a sharp-tailed grouse blind please contact the Eveleth DNR office at 218-744-7448. So reserve your grouse blind early and discover why the Iron Range is "A Great Way to Getaway!"
Among the Iron Range's most sought after birds are owls of the boreal forests that winter in the Iron Range region. The great gray, boreal and northern hawk-owl nest across boreal regions of northeastern Minnesota and the Iron Range. Snowy owls nest in Sax-Zim Bog. These birds depend on prey whose numbers fluctuate greatly from one year to the next. The populations of voles, lemmings, snowshoe hares and other rodents fluctuate according to a general ten-year wildlife cycle. When prey is abundant, the owls stay in northern regions.
When prey is scarce, the owls move south. Dozens of these owls may be seen at Sax-Zim Bog during some winters. Snowy owls disperse widely and may be encountered throughout the Iron Range, but Sax-Zim Bog is also a popular viewing spot for these elusive birds. The other three owls are more closely tied to forested habitats. At a time that the snowy landscape may seem devoid of life, the quest to see and photograph these owls heats up and draws persons from throughout the United States. One appealing characteristic of great gray, boreal and northern hawk-owl is that they can often be approached very closely because boreal wildlife species typically show no fear of humans.
Boreal owls are usually encountered in the northeastern counties. Great grays are also encountered in St. Louis County on the Iron Range. They are particularly well known for the Sax-Zim Bog area. They can also be found on the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway. The northern hawk-owl is a diurnal species. It is found in coniferous forests, tamarack bogs and peatland habitats of the Iron Range. They are encountered east to the Sax-Zim Bog of St. Louis County but are very erratic in their occurrences elsewhere. The best way to keep up with their movements and current wintering is to call or e-mail the numbers under the contact information. So get out your birdlist and get ready to check off Great gray, Snowy and Northern Hawk owls, and discover why the Iron Range is "A Great Way to Getaway!"
Click here for a FREE Iron Range Birding & Wildlife Brochure.
When northeastern Minnesota's winters finally release their grip on the landscape, nature lovers crave every sign of spring. There are obvious signs like Canada geese returning north in V-shaped flocks and American robins hopping across the lawn in search of worms. Some signs, however, are more subtle but much more exciting to wildlife enthusiasts: the return of warblers to our woodlands. As forests take on the first hints of green, a diverse array of warblers return from wintering grounds that might have been anywhere from Georgia to Peru.
By early May the migration includes colorful warblers en route to northern nesting grounds. Most are not the common backyard species that we associate with bird feeders. These are insect eating species that have wintered primarily in Central and South America. They include the northern parula, ovenbird, American redstart, and black-throated green, blackburnian, cerulean, Canada, chestnut-sided, bay-breasted, golden-winged, yellow, Tennessee, yellow-rumped, magnolia, prothonotary and black and white warblers.
Exploring the springtime Superior National Forest on the Iron Range can be an enriching outdoor experience, and can occur in natural woodlands throughout the region. All are used in migration. The cold silence of winter is replaced by sensory overload from songs of warblers and a host of other springtime songbirds. And there are flashes of beautiful colors as flitting birds move through the forest in search of insect prey: orange of redstarts, glowing orange in the breasts of blackburnian warblers, bright yellow on yellow, magnolia and golden-winged warblers, and the deep chestnut color the bay-breasted warblers.
The best time to experience the spring warbler migration is from mid-April to mid-May. The peak migration days in any given year will vary depending on how early the warm temperatures bring on hatches of insects that provide food for these birds. In some years the birds move through in just a few days in early to mid-May. In other years the migration is extended over a couple week period through late May. There is about a two-week lapse from the first arrival of these birds in southern Minnesota until they arrive in more northerly portions of the state, including boreal forest nesting areas. Check with local bird club members, Minnesota Birding Network, and the Eveleth DNR for updates on the progress of the migration.
Enjoying the spring warbler migration requires a good set of binoculars and a field guide. It would help if you obtain a tape of birdcalls and review them before you see them. Once you have tried "spring warbler-watching" you will likely find it becomes an annual tradition for enjoying the outdoors in springtime northeastern Minnesota and the Iron Range. We invite you to grab your birding scope and discover why the Iron Range is "A Great Way to Getaway!"
* The large picture at the top of this page is a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Creator Jesse Achtenberg. Publisher U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
