Birds of the Gunflint Trail

February 5, 2019

Text and photos by John Silliman
Gunflint Lodge Head Naturalist

We have a nice variety of birds on the Gunflint Trail right now. Not only do we have the year-round residents like the black-capped chickadees and the common ravens, we also have some seasonal birds such as the pine grosbeaks and hoary redpolls.

The pine grosbeaks and redpolls spend their summers in the Arctic and come to far northern Minnesota for the winter. Pine grosbeaks are here every winter, and the redpolls come most winters. This winter, the I didn’t see my first redpoll until about two weeks ago.

Here is the list of verified bird sightings on the Gunflint Trail for January of 2019:

Black-Capped Chickadee

Blue Jay

Canada Jay

Common Raven

Downy Woodpecker

Hoary Woodpecker

Hoary Redpoll

Pileated Woodpecker

Pine Grosbeak (male)

Pine Grosbeak (female)

Pine Siskin

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

White-Breasted Nuthatch