Goldfinch Season
While most observers think of fall as the season for asters, goldenrods and maples, I consider it goldfinch season. This is the time of year when these handsome yellow birds with black wings and forehead …
Category: Birding
Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge serves primarily as a nesting, feeding, resting and staging area for migratory waterfowl. The varied habitats support approximately 266 species of birds – making it an excellent location for birders.
You can read our articles on birding below, or check out some of our birding tools like:
INWR Bird Finder – Trying to see a specific species? Pick a bird and see where other birders have sighted it!
INWR Birding Hotspots – See where on the refuge birders have been seeing the most birds.
INWR Bird Cam – During nesting season, we manage cameras in some of the nesting sites.
An Asylum Of Cuckoos
The yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) is not often seen, but is a common summer time resident of the refuge. They use dense wooded stands with lots of cover and water nearby to raise their broods. Cuckoos may be …
Gnatcatchers are Frisky Lightweights
Whenever I walk quietly along the Swallow Hollow boardwalk about a hundred yards south of the trail entrance, I listen for weak spishing sounds coming from high in the cottonwoods that shade the walkway. Francis …
Backyard Bird Spotlight – Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
I’ve been getting a regular visitor at my bird feeding station. In the photo is a female Pileated Woodpecker who arrives every morning while I drink coffee and eat breakfast. The Pileated Woodpecker is the …
New York State Breeding Bird Survey: Observations of a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
While the Refuge has been closed, the third New York State Breeding Bird Survey continues and we have arrived at one of the most active months to record breeding behaviors – June! There are tons …
Cayuga Pool at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Delights Birdwatching Community
On the evening of May 23, 2020 it was reported by a Buffalo birdwatcher that he’d spotted a Gull-billed Tern, a costal worldwide bird that rarely comes inland and a bird that would provide an opportunity …
A New Website for Niagara Frontier Birders
Two regional birdwatchers, Mike Noonan and Gerry Rising, each of whom have had a long history with the Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, have recently completed a series of films about local birds and …
The Warblers Are Arriving!
Dear Supporters of the Friends of Iroquois, Inc., I am very disappointed that our joint Friends and Iroquois Refuge events have had to be cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic crisis our nation and world …
Birthday Birding Bash Field Trip
On the 117th National Wildlife Refuge System Birthday (3/14/2020), six birdwatchers took to the Iroquois NWR overlooks to search for migratory waterfowl. This occurred prior to the gathering restrictions implemented by the state for COVID-19. …
Oak Orchard Christmas Bird Count 2019
On December 27, 2019, 21 volunteers participated in the 52nd annual Oak Orchard Swamp Christmas Bird Count. The National Audubon Society, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sponsor Christmas Bird Counts annually …