birding resources

A Birder's Guide to Minnesota by Kim R. Eckert, Third Edition, 1994.
A Field Guide to the Birds: A Completely New Guide to All the Birds of Eastern and Central
North America by Roger Tory Peterson, 1998.
Birds in Minnesota by Robert B. Janssen, 1987.
Birding Minnesota, Jay Michael Strangis, 1996.
The Birds of Minnesota by Thomas S. Roberts, 1932.
Birds of Minnesota - Field Guide, Stan Tekiela. 1998.
National Geographic Society's Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
Peterson First Guide to Birds of North America, by Roger Tory Peterson, 1998.
The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior by Chris Elphick, John B. Dunning, Jr., and David Allen Sibley, 2001.
Where to Find Birds in Minnesota by Kenneth D. Morrison and Josephine Daneman Herz, 1950.

Spring migration begins.

Deciduous Forest
The deciduous forest or hardwood forest ecosystem includes maple-basswood, oak-hickory forest, aspen and birch forest, northern hardwood forest, lowland hardwood forest, and oak savanna. The forest provides prime habitat at the ground level, understory and overstory, levels. Common birds of the deciduous forest include the tufted titmouse, scarlet tanager, eastern screech owl, broad-winged hawk, red-tailed hawk, barred owl, red-eyed vireo, white breasted nuthatch, wood thrush, black-capped chickadee, great crested flycatcher, ovenbird, northern cardinal, and woodpeckers (hairy, downy, red headed and pileated), indigo buntings, brown thrasher and gray catbird, rose breasted grosbeak, northern orioles, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, and woodcock.

Prairie
The tall prairie grassland ecosystems are classified according to soil moisture, determined by the degree and direction of slope, the depth of the water table, and the soil texture from one location to another, result in variations in the plant species present. Variations in soil moisture is used to classify tall grass prairie into mesic, dry, and wet types.

Moderate moisture are characteristic of the mesic prairie. Common plant species include big and little bluestem, Indian grass, prairie dropseed, and porcupine grass. Kentucky bluegrass, an introduced species, is often present, indicating disturbance. The dry prairie contains little bluestem, side oats gramma, plains muhly, blue grama, and hairy grama, prairie dropseed, sand reed, June grass, and needle grass. Vegetation on the wet prairie is dense and tall. Sedges are abundant and grasses include prairie cord-grass, switchgrass, mat muhly, blue-joint, northern reed grass, and big bluestem.

Common birds of the mesic, dry and wet prairies include the marbled godwit, upland sandpiper, prairie chicken, sharp-tailed grouse, meadowlarks, bobolinks, grasshopper sparrow, red-winged blackbird, yellow-headed blackbird, ring-necked pheasant, gray partridge, red tailed hawks, and great horned owls.

Wetlands
Seasonal and permanent prairie wetlands are defined by concentric vegetation zones characteristic of water depth and vegetation. The concentric zones are determined by the bottom of the wetland and the maximum depth of water; not every wetland contains the following five zones.
" The outer most concentric zone is the low-prairie zone, which does not contain standing water and the soil is moist. However, in early spring this zone may be flooded for some time. Plant species located within this zone include cutgrass, blue-joint grass, and varieties of sedges, mints, and asters.
" The next concentric zone is the wet-meadow, which contains wet soil and some standing water. Plant species within this zone include spike rush, bur-reed, varieties of the rush species Scirpus and water hemlock
" Continuing to move inward, the shallow-marsh zone contain water depth from a few inches to a few feet in depth. Common species include cattail, bulrush, and reed.
" The closest zone to the wetland is the deep-marsh zone. Water levels are near a few feet to approximately eight feet in depth, therefore there are few emergent aquatic plants. Many plant species are submerged and free-floating leaved plants, which include pondweeds (e.g sago pondweed), coontail, bladderwort, and yellow water-crowfoot.
" The open water zone in the center of the wetland is usually too deep for many rooted aquatic plants. This zone does contain algae, duckweeds, and free-floating plants.

The critical factor in attracting birds to wetlands is the biodiversity of invertebrates as a food resource. Bird species common to prairie wetlands include mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, canvasback, red-head, lesser scaup, coots, Canada geese, common loons, Virginia rails, soras, western grebes, white pelicans, great blue herons, great egrets, American Bitterns, black terns, gulls, red-winged blackbirds. Migrating birds like the tundra swan and snow geese also can be identified when migrating in the spring and fall.

Lakes
The diversity of lakes throughout Minnesota are due to the result of watershed size, depth, and topography. Other characteristics such as soils, geology, vegetation, groundwater hydrology, land use, and pollution play an important role in characterizing each lake. Important water chemistry defining a lake include hardness (calcium and magnesium), alkalinity, pH, phosphorous, sulfate, and dissolved organic matter.
Lake zones are described in terms of physical characteristics and vegetation types. Each lake contains a different area, shape of the shoreline, and the contour of the basin, therefore, the proportion of the lake in each of the following zones will differ.
" The littoral zone contains rooted aquatic plants and is the shallowest portion of the lake.
" The pelagic zone is too deep for rooted plants but receives plenty of light for algae to grow.
" The profundal zone is located beneath the pelagic zone. Light is unable to penetrate and contains the sediments of the lake bottom.

Many types of birds are associated with lakes including swallows, purple martins, bald eagles, ospreys, terns, pelicans, mergansers, lesser scaup, grebes, common loons, herons, egrets.

Streams & Rivers
Streams and rivers receive their water from drainage areas called watersheds. Commonly the drainage patter is often like veins of smaller streams feeding into larger streams, which eventually drain into the main stem of the river. The physical characteristics of streams and rivers are considered more important than chemical and biological characteristics of the stream. Physical characteristics include channel, shape, length, slope, streambed, discharge rate and velocity of the moving water and the composition of the water itself. Birds take advantage of food, cover and water on the river. Common bird species include belted kingfishers, mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, canvasback, red-head, lesser scaup, coots, Canada geese, common loons, white pelicans, great blue herons, great egrets, American Bitterns, black terns, gulls, swallows, purple martins, bald eagles, ospreys, terns, pelicans, mergansers.

Even if it is difficult to travel to rural areas areas, one can easily take advantage of birding in urban areas. Even though humans have altered the natural environment, some bird species thrive in the urban areas. Urban habitat consists of the downtown area, parks, gardens, warehouses and other large buildings, and waste ground. Birds that have adapted well to urban areas include the house finch, house sparrow, rock dove, house wrens, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, killdeer, common nighthawk, Canada geese, common grackles, European Starling, ruby throated hummingbird, American Crow,