Birding Adventures in North Dakota
Wildlife enthusiasts who tour North Dakota are thoroughly impressed with such remarkable destinations as the Missouri Coteau, the Turtle Mountains, the Missouri River Valley, the Badlands, the Pembina Gorge, and the Sheyenne Grasslands, along with the best of our 62 national wildlife refuges – we boast more wildlife refuges than any other state.

Often, your most memorable wildlife encounters will take place away from our premier wildlife locations, along a quiet country road where you find a swift-flying Prairie Falcon or a family of Burrowing Owls. When you least expect it, you may encounter a newly hatched brood of Canvasbacks, or a life bird – perhaps a Sprague’s Pipit or a Baird’s Sparrow – singing distinctively over a verdant expanse of native prairie. You may exalt at an episode that tugs at your inner nature, such as the sight and sound of 40,000 Snow Geese taking flight over a harvested grain field. Journey to North Dakota to enjoy such memorable experiences!

Wildlife encounters are available year-round in North Dakota with astounding opportunities during our action-packed spring migration where every day seems to bring new birds to our state. The summer nesting season resounds with bird songs as the natural behaviors of reproduction rule the long summer days. The chill of fall sends millions of waterfowl south through North Dakota along with an abundance of cranes, shorebirds, hawks, and songbirds.

Winter birds are rarer, but ever so exciting with such attractive visitors as Snowy Owls, Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Goshawks, Bohemian Waxwings, White-winged Crossbills, Snow Buntings, and others sharing the snowy wonderland. Winter is also one of the best times to find some of our rarer resident birds including Gray Partridges, Greater Prairie Chickens, and Pileated Woodpeckers.

Paul Konrad, a well-known birder and ornithologist, recently noted, ”All the visiting birders I’ve talked with or corresponded with have been impressed, if not surprised, with their North Dakota experiences. Birders find the broad landscapes alluring, the birding action remarkable, photography opportunities abundant, and the people among the friendliest in America.”

Add to this our energizing fresh air, clear skies that abound with stars at night, and a refreshing lack of big-city stress and you will not only enjoy your next trip to North Dakota, you will surely return for more natural encounters amid our unique countryside.

North Dakota Rare Bird Alert
The North Dakota Birding Society and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a North Dakota Birding Hotline, and online report.  The report is updated each Tuesday.