Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in Minnesota. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in Minnesota, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
Minnesota's nearly 450 recorded species come with a claim few states can make: it may be the best winter birding destination in America. Sax-Zim Bog, an hour from Duluth, draws birders from around the world for Great Gray Owls, Northern Hawk Owls, Boreal Chickadees, and finch flocks straight out of the far north.
The rest of the year holds its own. Hawk Ridge in Duluth counts one of the continent's great fall raptor flights as birds refuse to cross Lake Superior; the Boundary Waters canoe country sings with two dozen breeding warbler species in June; and the state's western edge still holds native prairie where longspurs nest and prairie grouse dance on spring leks.
Loading...
Where to bird in Minnesota
Sax-Zim Bog
The winter mecca: Great Gray and Northern Hawk Owls hunting the bog edges, Boreal Chickadees and Canada Jays at the feeding stations, and Evening and Pine Grosbeaks in the birches. February mornings here are unforgettable.
Hawk Ridge, Duluth
Raptors funnel down Lake Superior's north shore and pour over this ridge each fall — September Broad-winged days can pass 10,000 birds, with goshawks and Golden Eagles later in the season.
Park Point, Duluth
A seven-mile sandspit into Lake Superior that concentrates migrants like a coastal point: warbler waves in May, shorebirds on the beach, and a long history of jaw-dropping rarities.
The Boundary Waters & Superior National Forest
Canoe-country boreal birding: Common Loons on every lake, Spruce Grouse on the back roads, Black-backed Woodpeckers in the burns, and a June dawn chorus of northern warblers.
Felton Prairie
Gravel-ridge prairie in the northwest where Chestnut-collared Longspurs and Marbled Godwits still breed — one of the last easy places in the state to feel the original grassland.
Blue Mounds State Park
Sioux quartzite cliffs above southwestern prairie: Blue Grosbeaks at the edge of their range, nesting Peregrine Falcons, and grassland sparrows in the bison pasture.
Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
Vast aspen-parkland marshes in the far northwest with breeding grebes, Franklin's Gulls, Yellow Rails, and moose along the auto loop.
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
The Twin Cities' backyard refuge: floodplain forest and marsh minutes from the airport, with Prothonotary Warblers in the bottoms and waterfowl through migration.
Grand Marais & the North Shore
Superior's rocky shore in late fall and winter: rare gulls in the harbor, Bohemian Waxwings in the mountain-ashes, and vagrant hunting at its scenic best.
Minnesota birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Leks at dawn, warblers by mid-May
Greater Prairie-Chickens boom on northwestern leks in April, waterfowl flood the prairie potholes, and the warbler push peaks in the third week of May from Park Point to the bog country.
Summer (June–August) — Loons and the boreal chorus
The state bird calls across 10,000 lakes while the Boundary Waters host one of the richest breeding-warbler communities on the continent — plus Yellow Rails ticking in the Agassiz marshes at midnight.
Fall (September–November) — Hawk Ridge in full flight
Duluth's ridge counts tens of thousands of raptors as they skirt Lake Superior; sparrows and longspurs move through October, and November brings northern owls and rare gulls to the North Shore.
Winter (December–February) — The best winter birding in America
Sax-Zim Bog at its peak: Great Gray Owls at dawn, hawk owls on the spruce tips, grosbeaks and redpolls at the feeders — and always the chance of a mega like a Boreal Owl in the open.
All 472 bird species recorded in Minnesota
Every species on this list has been recorded in Minnesota on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.