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Manitoba

Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa © Don Getty http://www.dongettyphoto.com

Manitoba is comprised of a diversity of habitats. Prairie grasslands, boreal forest, parkland, large expanses of marshland, the Canadian Shield and Hudson Bay coastline make this region attractive to many bird species. This province`s central geographic location in the North American Continent means that it can offer the birder varied species from the North, South, East and West.

Manitoba is truly one of North America`s bird watching hotspots.

top sites

A few suggested Manitoba birding sites are

Churchill
Oak Hammock Marsh
Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park
Pembina Valley
Delta Marsh
Whiteshell
Assiniboine Park & Forest

contributor

Ann Cook
(Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba)
acook@birdsofmanitoba.com
http://www.naturenorth.com

numbers

Number of bird species:388
Provincial Bird - Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa

useful reading

Manitoba Birds

Andy Bezener and Ken de Smet 176 pages, col illus, maps. Lone Pine Publishing 2000
ISBN: 1551052555
Buy this book from NHBS.com

clubs

Delta Marsh University Fieldstation

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/delta_marsh/
The Field Station property is part of a designated game-bird refuge and wildlife protection area, most of which was designated in 1987 as an ecologically significant area. Established in 1966, the Station is a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations and the Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network. It is based at Mallard Lodge, one of the finest lodges on the marsh, that was built in 1932 on the estate of noted athlete and businessman Donald H. Bain.

Delta Waterfowl Foundation

http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/
Delta Waterfowl Foundation is an independent, non-profit waterfowl organization. Deltas mission is to promote sustainable waterfowl populations for the enjoyment of future generations.

Hudson Bay Project

http://research.amnh.org/~rfr/hbp/
The 1997 field season was the second year of support for the Hudson Bay Project under our current funding arrangements. Intensive studies were undertaken at our 2 primary research sites, La Pérouse Bay and Akimiski Island. In addition, we conducted detailed aerial or ground surveys of nesting colonies from Akimiski Island to the Knife and Seal River deltas north of Churchill. These were planned to coincide with the fixed wing aerial inventories coordinated by Dick Kerbes of the Canadian Wildlife Service. We also initiated vegetation surveys (including erecting and sampling exclosures) on the Pen Islands. These are located near the Ontario and Manitoba border and until recently did not have a large number of nesting snow geese.

Manitoba Naturalists Society - Birder Program

http://www.manitobanature.ca/birder/
The MNS is a non-profit organization made up of individuals who share a common concern for the well-being of Manitoba`s nature.

Manitoba Wildlife

http://www.gov.mb.ca/natres/wildlife/managing/
Extensive conservation site...

observatories

Churchill Northern Studies Centre

http://www.churchillmb.net/~cnsc/
Founded in 1976, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre is an independent, non-profit research and education facility located 23 km east of the town of Churchill, Manitoba. We provide accommodations, meals, equipment rentals, and logistical support to scientific researchers working on a diverse range of topics of interest to northern science...

Delta Marsh Bird Observatory

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/science/delta_marsh/dmbo/
The Delta Marsh Bird Observatory & Banding Station (DMBO) was established in 1994. It is Manitoba`s contribution to providing continued information on migratory songbirds. It is one of five working banding stations in Canada and part of the Canadian Wildlife Services Canadian Landbird Monitoring Strategy. DMBO is destined to become one of a network of 260 monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship stations across North America.

museums

Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature - Birds of Manitoba Online

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Birds/MMMN/English/
Online Field Guide to the Birds of Manitoba

reserves

Manitoba Provincial Parks

http://www.out-there.com/htl_mb.htm
A (long) list of parks with info on each.

Oak Hammock Marsh

http://www.ducks.ca/ohmic/
Oak Hammock Marsh is a 36-square km Wildlife Management Area (WMA) that is one of North America`s birding hotspots. It features a restored prairie marsh, aspen-oak bluff, waterfowl lure crops, artesian springs, 30 kilometers of trails, and some of Manitoba`s last remaining patches of tall-grass prairie - an endangered habitat. Each season at the marsh offers unique natural beauty and wildlife – viewing opportunities.

Pope National Wildlife Area

http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/whp/nwa/df06s03.en.html
Pope NWA serves as a salvage waterfowl production area during drought years. Marsh edge, water depth and poor interspersion of adjacent wetlands limit its waterfowl production potential. The Wildlife Area provides habitat for songbirds, shorebirds and small mammals...

Riding Mountain National Park

http://www.canadianparks.com/manitoba/ridinnp/index.htm
The Park covers almost 3,000 sq.km and is populated by elk, deer, black bears, coyotes, wolves, moose, a diverse group of birds including red-tailed, broad-winged and cooper`s hawks, loons, eagles, geese, ducks, black-billed cuckoos, and an incredible diversity of wildflowers. The clear waters teem with fish, especially lake trout, jackfish, pickerel, and whitefish. The Park also boasts its own herd of buffalo that is maintained in the Lake Audy compound.

Rockwood National Wildlife Area

http://www.mb.ec.gc.ca/nature/whp/nwa/df06s06.en.html
Rockwood National Wildlife Area serves as an oasis for wildlife because of intensive land use on adjacent lands...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can’t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page… give them a try!

1995 [June] - David Kelly - Central Manitoba

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/canada/canada1/central.htm
e.g.The gardens around the lake were rather new with few shrubs or trees and there were a few small birds American Robins, House Sparrows, Common Starlings and Common Grackles were the commonest but warbler migration was evident in two Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Blackpoll Warbler. On the water there were Canada Geese, Mallard, three female Buffleheads, a pair of Blue-winged teal and lots of Ring-billed Gulls. Around the shore a Killdeer had a territory. As is often the case this lake never had anything like this variety of birds on it for the rest of the trip...

1997 [September] - David Kelly - Southern Manitoba

http://www.birdtours.co.uk/tripreports/canada/canada2/index.htm
This report covers my second trip to Canada to visit my mother-in-law in Winnipeg. My wife, Lillian, and I flew from Glasgow by Air Canada to Toronto and then onto Winnipeg. The whole of this flight was in daylight and the sky was cloudless as we flew over Greenland, giving the other passengers and us unforgettable views of the ice floes, glaciers and ice caps. The flight from Toronto to Winnipeg also allowed me to see the awesome sight of the Great Lakes from the air...

2000 [August] - Paul Jones - Southwestern Manitoba

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/MB-08-2000.htm
Evan Thornton and I spent Monday, August 29 to Friday, September 1, 2000 birding the south-west corner of Manitoba. We stayed at the comfortable Adam Lake campground in Turtle Mountain Provincial Park and concentrated much of our birding effort on the Whitewater Lake area...

2001 [September] - Blake Maybank - Southeastern Manitoba

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/SK-10-2001.htm
During September and October 2001 I made a trip to western Canada to visit family. I planned for a trip of sufficient length to allow for a number of full days of birding both in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and N.W. Ontario.

2002 [October] - Travelling Naturlaist

http://www.naturalist.co.uk/reports2002/churchill.php
...After an hour or so we drove through Portage Le Prairie where Crescent Lakes held a variety of ducks and amazing flights of Canada Geese roosting in their thousands and we quickly added Lesser Scaup, Merganser and American Wigeon and Redhead to our list...

2003 [June] - Karl Overman

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/maybank/Canada/MB-06-2003.htm
Birding centered on Oak Hammock Marsh north of Winnipeg and the adjacent prairie parklands and farm areas to the northwest of Oak Hammock...

2004 [November] - Travelling Naturalist

http://www.naturalist.co.uk/reports2004/churchill.php
Highlights: Seeing two of our five Snowy owls on the first day of this holiday was an indication of what was to come. We enjoyed amazing experiences with bears – Black and Polar – and birds...

2006 [July] - David

http://www.freewebs.com/ontariobirds/manitobajul2006.htm
I will tell what I have in my notes, and what I can remember, which isn't much as this trip was three months ago now (10/05/2006). I've included driving distances and year birds in the text, along with the trip list at the bottom. Click on the white fonted birds to go to a photo of that individual...

2006 [October] - David

http://www.freewebs.com/ontariobirds/manitobaoct2006.htm
I made a point to take better notes on this trip, and also it was just a few days ago, so my memory is a lot better (10/30/2006). All three North American 'snowbirds' were noted on this trip, with all three on the 29th. Snow Goose, Snow Bunting, Snowy Owl...

tour operators

Bird Ventures

http://www.birdventures.com
Venture to North Dakota and Southern Manitoba

Birding Pal

http://birdingpal.org/manitoba.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Churchill Wilderness Encounter

http://www.mts.net/~cwe/
Discover the Birds of Churchill - With more than 200 bird species passing through each season, Churchill is one of the great destinations for the birding enthusiast. These tours are offered daily throughout the spring and summer. Areas visited will vary depending upon the current location of species sought by those on tour. Some of the unique species which may be seen include: Ross`s Gull, Smith`s Longspur, Parasitic Jaeger, Hoary Redpoll, Willow Ptarmigan and Pacific Loon...

Churchill Wilderness Encounters

http://www.mts.net/~cwe/checklist.html
Located at the edge of the historic Hudson Bay, Churchill is situated at an intersection of four environments.

Eagle-eye Tours

http://www.eagle-eye.com/Locations/Churchill&SouthMB.html
Churchill & Southern Manitoba Date: June 19 - July 1, 2004 & June 3 - 15, 2006

Ralph Paonessa Phototours

http://www.rpphoto.com/trips/churchill/churchill2.htm
Churchill: Birds of the Arctic - June 19-27, 2005

The Urban Naturalist

http://www.wilds.mb.ca/urbanat/
Nature Tours & Outdoor Education...

Wings

http://wingsbirds.com/tours/view/103
Located at about 60 degrees N on the western shore of Hudson Bay, Churchill has long attracted birdwatchers, in part because it is one of the few communities above treeline accessible by rail but more significantly because its location in a transition zone between boreal forest, tundra and Hudson Bay offers an unusually diversified avifauna. Since 1930, when Churchill became an important grain port with the completion of the railroad from the south, many biological investigations have been conducted here including comprehensive studies on the breeding biology of shorebirds...

places to stay

Bear Creek B&B

http://www.bbcanada.com/4278.html
Private country farm house to sleep 11 and yard...

Gites Canada

http://www.gitescanada.com/mb.cfm
A list of B&Bs etc.

mailing lists

ManitobaBirds

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Manitobabirds
To post to list:Manitobabirds@yahoogroups.com
List contact:Manitobabirds-owner@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to list:Manitobabirds-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Mailing List – Discussion Group - Information on birds and birding in Manitoba, Canada.The emphasis is on trip reports and information on rarities.Any topic concerning Manitoba birds is acceptable.

A Birder`s Guide to Churchill

http://www.americanbirding.org/publications/bfgchurch.htm
Everything a birder needs to travel to Churchill is contained in the 1994 revision of this site guide. Over a dozen birding tour leaders carried the thoroughly revised text and redrawn maps with them during the 1993 tour season to help ABA field-check accurate kilometre distances and to perfect the very detailed bird finding instructions.

Birding Destinations in Manitoba

http://americanbirding.org/publications/wgfeat1.htm
Long article mentioning several sites...

Birding Manitoba

http://www.americanbirdcenter.com/abc-manitoba.html

Birds of the Delta Marsh

http://www.dmbo.org/festival/species.html
The Delta Marsh is one of the largest freshwater marshes in the world. Located on the southern end of Lake Manitoba (50° 11`N, 98° 23`W), the marsh spans some 21,853 hectares (54,000 acres)...

BLOG - 200 Birds in Manitoba

http://ifnot250.blogspot.com
…about birding in Manitoba, Canada…

BLOG - Darrell Neufeld's Birdwatching Page

http://www.mbbirder.blogspot.com/
In and around Manitoba,Canada and wherever I can afford to go!

Churchill Birdwatching

http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~alice/explorations/churchill/birds.htm
Over 150 species of birds frequent the area. The great numbers of species, as well as the presence of these species in their colorful summer plumage attracts many avid birders, who arrive not only by rail but also by air. There is much excitement each day to see which new species have turned up overnight...

Manitoba Birding News

http://www.web-nat.com/bic/manitoba.html
We are grateful to everyone who has submitted reports and stories so far - please keep them coming! Thank you all!

Manitoba Habitat Types and Bird Checklists

http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Birds/MMMN/English/region.html
For the purpose of these checklists, Manitoba has been divided into 3 major ecosystems: (1) Coastal Tundra (2) Boreal Forest (3) Farmland / Parkland...

artists

Photographer - Ann Cook

http://www.naturenorth.com/photos/acook/acook.html
The onset of digital cameras has made photography more enjoyable and the instant results gratifying to one who has the patience of a two year old! The abundance of birds in my vicinity has compelled me to try to photograph all the species in my residing Province of Manitoba. I am not a birder and don`t profess to know much about birds but I do like the challenge of spotting and photographing these feathered creatures.

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