Birds of Lighthouse Point
Over 230 species of birds have been spotted on Lighthouse Point! This list was compiled by Jim Lind, a seasonal bird compiler with the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union (MOU) and editor of the Duluth Rare Bird Alert. The list was also reviewed by the chair of the MOU records committee. Additional notes from Jim Lind follow the list.
Lind defines Lighthouse Point as all of the forested high ground, the boat ramp and parking area, and the grassy field east of the wastewater treatment plant. The list includes birds that have been seen in these areas, as well as from these areas—on the lake, in the harbor, and flying overhead.
Birds of Lighthouse Point
- Snow Goose
- Ross’s Goose
- Cackling Goose
- Canada Goose
- Tundra Swan
- Wood Duck
- Gadwall
- American Wigeon
- American Black Duck
- Mallard
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Northern Pintail
- Green-winged Teal
- Canvasback
- Redhead
- Ring-necked Duck
- Greater Scaup
- Lesser Scaup
- King Eider
- Harlequin Duck
- Surf Scoter
- White-winged Scoter
- Black Scoter
- Long-tailed Duck
- Bufflehead
- Common Goldeneye
- Hooded Merganser
- Common Merganser
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Ruffed Grouse
- Red-throated Loon
- Pacific Loon
- Common Loon
- Yellow-billed Loon
- Pied-billed Grebe
- Horned Grebe
- Red-necked Grebe
- Eared Grebe
- Western Grebe
- American White Pelican
- Double-breasted Comorant
- American Bittern
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Cattle Egret
- Green Heron
- Turkey Vulture
- Osprey
- Bald Eagle
- Northern Harrier
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Cooper’s Hawk
- Northern Goshawk
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Rough-legged Hawk
- Golden Eagle
- American Kestrel
- Merlin
- Gyrefalcon
- Peregrin Falcon
- American Coot
- Sandhill Crane
- Black-bellied Plover
- American Golden-Plover
- Semipalmated Plover
- Killdeer
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Whimbrel
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Sanderling
- Semi-palmated Sandpiper
- Least Sandpiper
- Baird’s Sandpiper
- Pectoral Sandpiper
- Dunlin
- Stilt Sandpiper
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Long-billed Dowitcher
- Wilson’s Snipe
- Franklin’s Gull
- Bonaparte’s Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Herring Gull
- Thayer’s Gull
- Iceland Gull
- Glaucous Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Black-legged Kittiwake
- Ivory Gull
- Caspian Tern
- Common Tern
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Black-billed Cuckoo
- Great Horned Owl
- Snowy Owl
- Northern Hawk Owl
- Barred Owl
- Great Gray Owl
- Long Eared Owl
- Boreal Owl
- Northern Saw-whet Owl
- Common Nighthawk
- Whip-poor-will
- Chimney Swift
- Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Belted Kingfisher
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker
- American Three-toed Woodpecker
- Black-backed Woodpecker
- Northern Flicker
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
- Alder Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Eastern Phoebe
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Eastern Kingbird
- Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Northern Shrike
- Yellow-throated Vireo
- Blue-headed Vireo
- Warbling Vireo
- Philadelphia Vireo
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Gray Jay
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Common Raven
- Horned Lark
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- N. Rough-winged Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Boreal Chickadee
- Red-breasted Nuthatch
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Brown Creeper
- Carolina Wren
- House Wren
- Winter Wren
- Sedge Wren
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Eastern Bluebird
- Townsend’s Solitaire
- Veery
- Gray-cheeked Thrush
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Hermit Thrush
- American Robin
- Gray Catbird
- Northern Mockingbird
- Brown Thrasher
- European Starling
- American Pipit
- Bohemian Waxwing
- Cedar Waxwing
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Nashville Warbler
- Northern Parula
- Yellow Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Cape May Warbler
- Black-throated Blue Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Black-throated Gray Warbler
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Pine Warbler
- Palm Warbler
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Cerulean Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- American Redstart
- Ovenbird
- Northern Waterthrush
- Connecticut Warbler
- Mourning Warbler
- Common Yellowthroat
- Wilson’s Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Scarlet Tanager
- Easter Towhee
- American Tree Sparrow
- Chipping Sparrow
- Clay-colored Sparrow
- Vesper Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow
- Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow
- Fox Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Lincoln’s Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Harris’ Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- Lapland Longspur
- Snow Bunting
- Northern Cardinal
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Indigo Bunting
- Bobolink
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Rusty Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Baltimore Oriole
- Pine Grosbeak
- Purple Finch
- House Finch
- Red Crossbill
- White-winged Crossbill
- Common Redpoll
- Hoary Redpoll
- Pine Siskin
- American Goldfinch
- Evening Grosbeak
- House Sparrow
Merlin
This small falcon nests in old crow’s nests in the spruce and pines on the Point, and they hunt small birds in the woods. Merlins migrate through the area in the spring and fall. The wide diversity and numbers of songbirds are important prey for this species.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
This robin-sized owl migrates along the North Shore in September and October, and can be found roosting in the cedars on the Point during the day.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
This tiny songbird can be found in the spruces, pines, and cedars from April through November, and rarely, in winter. They nest each year in the tall spruces of the Point. Adults are often found with four to seven fledglings in July and August.
Bohemian Waxwing
A winter resident in northern Minnesota, it uses the mountain ash berries on the Point for foraging and the spruce and pines for roosting.
White-winged Crossbill
This nomadic finch forages on the cones of spruces and cedars on the Point. They are much more abundant in some years than others, depending on the cone crop. They probably nested on the Point in the winter of 2003, but I was never able to locate an actual nest. I did find one near Burlington Bay that winter. This species is one of the only ones that can nest during the winter.