Whether you are an avid birder, bird photographer, or simply enjoy spotting different birds during your exploration of Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, you will have ample opportunity to spy over 100 species of birds living or migrating through the park year-round.

Visit Voyagers National Park in the winter and you might spot a snowy owl / Gordy Lindgren via NPS

Voyageurs is where the southern edge of the boreal forest meets the northern tip of the hardwood forest. This habitat diversity allows for a wide variety of birds, from songbirds and woodpeckers, to birds of prey (osprey and eagles), to shorebirds birds like herons and plovers, to water birds like loons and ducks. Bring along your binoculars and make sure your telephoto lens is attached to your camera.

Below is a quick rundown of popular birding areas within the park.

Land-Accessible Birding Areas

Visit the Rainy Lake Visitor Center area at Voyageurs National Park and you might spot a pileated woodpecker / NPS file

Rainy Lake Visitor Center Area

Getting there: To get to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center area take Highway 11 East 10 miles to the entrance road. Turn right and travel two miles to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center.

What you might see: Black-backed woodpecker, olive-sided flycatcher, least flycatcher, great flycatcher, scarlet tanager, bald eagles, osprey, turkey vultures, bittern, American redstart, Blackburnian, black and white, black-throated green, chestnut sided, Canada, common yellowthroat, magnolia, morning, Nashville, northern parula, ovenbird, pine, Tennessee, yellow, and yellow-rumped warblers.

Blind Ash Bay Trail

Getting there: The Blind Ash Bay Trail originates from the upper parking lot and/or the Kabetogama Lake Overlook near the Ash River Visitor Center.

What you might see: hermit and Swainson’s thrushes, ruby and golden-crowned kinglets, scarlet tanagers, dark-eyed juncos, blue-headed, red-eyed vireos, red-breasted nuthatches, American redstart, Blackburnian, black and white, black-throated green, chestnut sided, Canada, common yellowthroat, magnolia, morning, Nashville, northern parula, northern water-thrush, ovenbird, pine, Tennessee, and yellow-rumped warblers, eastern wood pewee, great-crested flycatcher, least flycatcher, winter wren, and hairy and pileated woodpeckers.

Kab-Ash Trail

Getting there: To get to the Kab-Ash Trail visitors enter from four locations along the Ash River Trail Road or the visitor center road. Compasses and good topographical maps are a must on this trail system.

What you might see: hermit and Swainson’s thrushes, ruby and golden-crowned kinglets, scarlet tanagers, dark-eyed juncos, blue-headed and red-eyed vireos, red-breasted nuthatches, pine, Blackburnian, black-throated green, and yellow-rumped warblers, tree swallows, eastern kingbirds, common yellowthroat, swamp and song sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, pied-billed grebes, mallards, wood duck, blue-winged teal, ring-necked ducks, great blue herons, American bittern, sedge wren and possibly a sora rail.

Echo Bay

Getting there: To get to the Echo Bay Trail follow St. Louis County Road 122 North from U.S. Highway 53 to the Echo Bay trailhead signs.

What you might see: herons at the park’s largest great blue heron rookery, northern water thrushes, brown creepers, Canada warblers, winter wrens and magnolia warblers, least and great crested flycatchers, swamp sparrow, northern parula, ruby and golden-crowned kinglets, Swainson’s and hermit thrushes, red-breasted nuthatches, yellow-rumped, Blackburnian, veery, black-throated green, chestnut-sided, and morning warblers, ovenbird, pileated woodpeckers, Baltimore orioles, scarlet tanagers, eastern wood pewees, American redstarts, and red-eyed vireos.

Birding Areas Reached By Boat

Merganser mother with her chicks, Voyageurs National Park / Scott Nagel via NPS

Dryweed Island

Getting there: visitors will need to travel by boat from the Rainy Lake boat launch 2.5 miles to the island. Navigational maps are highly recommended. Note: there are no formal trails on this island and some bushwhacking is required.

What you might see: Hermit and Swainson’s thrushes, ruby and golden Crowned kinglets, scarlet tanagers, blue-headed and red-eyed vireos, red-breasted nuthatches, pine, magnolia, morning, black and white, ovenbird, Blackburnian, black-throated green, Nashville and yellow-rumped warblers, common ravens, and turkey vultures.

Black Bay Ski Trail Area

Getting there: To get to the Black Bay Ski Trail area, visitors will need to travel by boat from the Rainy Lake Visitor Center boat launch, one mile north to the trailhead.

There are two trails in this area. The Black Bay Beaver Pond Trail and the Black Bay Ski Trail. Both trails extend through four forest communities.

What you might see: Chestnut-sided warblers, chipping sparrows, indigo buntings, ruffed grouse, red-eyed vireo, blue-headed vireo, white-throated sparrows, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, ovenbirds, Canada, Blackburnian, black-throated green, Nashville, and yellow-rumped warblers, red-breasted nuthatches, veery, hermit and Swainson’s thrushes, scarlet tanagers, and wood pewees.

That’s quite the variety of birds, so check out this site for a brochure, guide, and checklist to the birds of Voyageurs National Park.

Depending upon the season you visit, be aware of ticks and mosquitoes and watch your footing in the wet areas.