Judd Brink is a local guide and naturalist who provides a weekly birding report during the spring bird migration, the summer nesting season, and the fall bird migration for Visit Brainerd. This is the 12th season Judd has provided birding reports about the Brainerd Lakes Area in Central Minnesota.

Birds Spotted in the Brainerd Area:

Today’s birding report comes from the Brainerd lakes area: Killdeer, Common Snipe, Woodcock, Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Great-blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, Black Tern, Forrester’s Tern, Ring-billed Gull, Woodduck, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Canada Goose, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, Belted Kingfisher, Common Nighthawk, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Turkey Vulture, House Finch, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Baltimore Oriole. Indigo Bunting, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Clay-colored Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Marsh Wren, House Wren, Western and Red-necked Grebe, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Chipping Sparrow, Common Raven, Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Phoebe, American Robin, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Bluebird, WIld Turkey, Trumpeter Swan, Scarlet Tanager, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Ovenbird, Great-crested Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Loon, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Cardinal and Golden-winged Warbler. Happy Birding! If you want to share a photo or have a unique bird sighting please email them to Judd Brink.

Here is a fun link to view how many birds are taking flight each night throughout the spring season. Monday, May 27, there were 1,133,500 birds that flew over Crow Wing County.

Be BEAR Aware! Starting to see and hear about bears visiting feeders and causing some minor damage.  Try to bring feeders inside, stop feeding suet, and bring any bird seed kept outside into a garage. 

Brainerd Area Birding Locations:
  • French Rapids ( Mississippi River): Waterfowl
  • Kiwanis/Rotary Park (Mississippi River): Waterfowl and Warblers
  • Northland Arboretum: Sparrows, Warblers and Tanagers
  • Crow Wing State Park: Songbirds, Waterfowl and Warblers
  • Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge – NOW see migrating Sandhill Cranes!

Judd Brink is the owner of MN Backyard Birds and can help make your home and or business more active and attractive for our feathered friends with bird-scaping. This is a great time to think about bird-scaping your yard to help attract more colorful birds. Ask for native fruiting trees and shrubs to plant around the house or cabin to bring in more birds naturally.

We hope you can share the joy of watching birds from your home or with others when visiting one of the many great birding areas found in the Brainerd area.

Plan your birding trip to Brainerd/Baxter, MN, today. There are a variety of hotel accommodations, wonderful dining, and a lot of other indoor and outdoor activities to enjoy.