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 11th season Judd has provided birding reports about the Brainerd Lakes Area.

Birds Spotted in the Brainerd Area:

Today’s birding report comes from the Brainerd lakes area: Turkey Vulture, American Kestrel, Bald Eagle, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Sandhill Crane, Great-blue Heron, Common Raven, Song Sparrow, Sedge Wren, White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Cedar Waxwing, Belted Kingfisher, Common Loon, Woodduck, Mallard, Ring-billed Gull, Blue-winged Teal, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Northern Cardinal, Baltimore Oriole, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Purple Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Redstart, Nashville Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Wild Turkey, Mourning Dove, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flicker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe and Trumpeter Swan. Happy Birding! If you want to share a photo or have a unique bird sighting please email them to info@birdminnesota.com.

Please note that while you are enjoying our many lakes, young loons are learning and exploring on those same lakes, so please be careful around loon families.

Fall Bird Migration:

Here are a few fun links to follow especially during the fall migration season of September through October.

  • https://birdcast.info/ (type in Crow Wing County). On one single night (9/10/23) just more than 3-million birds flew over Crow Wing County—amazing!
  • https://www.hawkridge.org/ Hawk Ridge is located in Duluth, MN, and is one of the best sites in the entire Midwest for the fall raptor migration. Their annual Hawk Weekend 9/15/23.
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: 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.