Fall Bird Migration Underway at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory

DULUTH, Minn. — Fall migration season is in full swing at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth.

The non-profit has been counting birds for over 50 years. They work with other Hawk watches across North America to understand populations and how birds are doing. They also have staff around to educate visitors on different species.

Birds come from all over, from Northern Canada to the southern tip of South America. Staff say on just one night 35,000 birds were predicted to fly over Duluth. Many wonder why this area is so popular for birds.

“We have the lake to thank for that. As birds come down north from Canada and northern Minnesota, they’re hitting the lakeshore somewhere north of here and following the lakeshore because they don’t want to make a large water crossing. It’s really energy intensive to flap all the way across the lake which has no thermals or any lift that would make it easier to fly,” said Sean McLaughlin, Lead Counter.

Hawk Ridge sees many visitors from all over. They expect to host around 30 to 40-thousand people just during this fall migration.

“This is an internationally known hawk watching location. So, we’ve had people come up from Florida, they come from Maine. We’ve had people from Switzerland come over and if you think about people in Europe, they might come over here and say, ‘I want to see a bald eagle and a turkey vulture’ because they don’t have those other places,” said Sara DePew, Lead Naturalist.

Coming up on the third weekend of September is their annual Hawk Weekend Festival. That coincides with the Broad-winged Hawk Migration where people could see a thousand birds in the air.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory relies on donations to make it all possible. Click here to learn more.