Bird Watching Paradise in Minnesota
We have nearly 2 miles of hiking trails at our Minnesota resort to take advantage of wildlife watching. Staying at Pine Terrace offers many opportunities to see different types of migratory and non-migratory birds. Many of these can be seen lakefront, right from your lawn chair near your lake cabin.
Minnesota bird watching is not complete until you watch eagles swoop down and grab fish from the lake right before your eyes at your lakeside cabin. There are the fascinating Pileated woodpeckers with their monkey-like calls. Blue Herons always entertain as they walk along the natural unspoiled shore and occasionally stand on a dock.
Watch Downy woodpeckers nest in trees close to your lakefront cabin. We have been fortunate to be able to watch Loon babies for the last few years.
While birding in Minnesota, a few others to mention are the usual Red-winged Blackbirds, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Indigo Buntings, Scarlet Tanagers, Chestnut-sided Warblers, Baltimore Oriole, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and also a variety of woodpeckers and finches.
Completing any Minnesota family vacation is being fascinated with the Common Loon, with its enchantingly unique call in the morning and evening hours. The loons return to our Minnesota fishing resort a few days after the ice goes out in the spring and stay until mid to late September.
Pine Terrace Resort is a central location to wildlife viewing and bird watching in Minnesota.
Below is a list of the birds that have been seen in the area.
Click on a bird name to learn more about that bird!
Key:
* – Seen on resort trails
underlined – Seen on resort grounds
- American Goldfinch
- American Redstart*
- American Robin
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Barred Owl
- Belted Kingfisher
- Black and White Warbler*
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Blue Jay
- Broad Wing Hawk
- Canada Goose
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chestnut-sided Warbler*
- Chimney Swift
- Chipping Sparrow
- Common Grackle
- Common Loon
- Common Merganser
- Common Redpoll
- Common Yellowthroat*
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Double Crested Cormorant
- Downy Woodpecker
- Eastern Bluebird
- Eastern Phoebe
- Golden-winged Warbler*
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Green Heron
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Hooded Merganser
- House Finch
- Indigo Bunting
- Least Flycatcher*
- Mallard
- Mourning Dove
- Nashville Warbler*
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Osprey
- Ovenbird*
- Pine Siskin
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Purple Finch
- Red Bellied Woodpecker
- Red-Breasted Nuthatch
- Red-Eyed Vireo*
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Ring Billed Gull
- Rose Breasted Grosbeak
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Rufous-sided Towhee
- Sandhill Crane
- Scarlet Tanager
- Song Sparrow
- Trumpeter Swan
- Turkey Vulture
- Warbling Vireo*
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Wild Turkey
- Wood Duck
- Wood Thrush
- Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
- Yellow Warbler*
- Yellow-throated Vireo*
Also, located a short distance down the road from the resort is the Uppgaard Wildlife Managment Area, which contains a great diversity of plants, wildlife, and opportunities to view many different birds. The Uppgaard Wildlife Management Area offers 110 acres of gently rolling woods and wetlands that offer great habitat for white-tailed deer, western painted turtles, ruffed grouse, blue heron, broad-winged hawks, and summer butterflies. There is a mixture of coniferous and deciduous forest, two small lakes, meadow, and marshland. With a free guided tour every week, it is a favorite of guests. Guided by a retired biology teacher of 38 years, this is an opportunity people don’t want to miss out on.
Current Birding Reports
If you would like to have some up to date and the most current information, check often with the Whitefish Area Lodging Association for weekly birding reports. Reports are made from March to November.