Fall Bird Migration in Minnesota

Q: Where are Minnesota migration counts published?

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory fall count, published Daily from mid August through the end of November, reported to HawkCount. A count is a reading of one day at one place, and the totals can double or halve between one week and the next as fronts pass, so the trend across the season is the useful reading rather than any single figure. The count page is linked from this page.

Minnesota puts one of the country's best known hawk counts on a ridge above Duluth and the flyway's crane staging an hour north of the Twin Cities, and the two run back to back from August into November.

Agency viewing sites

Species documented

Mapped

Where to stand

Public viewing sites in Minnesota

Every place below is one an agency itself describes for watching the fall passage, with the agency named and linked, the species it documents there, the months it names as the peak, and the facility that exists: a tour route, a platform, a tower, a visitor centre. Where the agency wrote a sentence worth reading, it is quoted exactly.

Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, Duluth Public platformMarquee site

A ridge above the western tip of Lake Superior, 1.7 km in from the lake, on East Skyline Parkway

Broad-winged hawkSharp-shinned hawk

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Southbound raptors that will not cross Lake Superior are turned down its western shore and pushed over the ridge behind Duluth, which is why the numbers here are what they are: a season average of 35,904 broad-winged hawks against a high of 160,703 in 2003, and 13,623 sharp-shinned hawks against a high of 22,602 in 2016. Systematic monitoring started in 1972 and the count runs August 15 to November 30.

“Counts are made from the Main Overlook on East Skyline Parkway, 1.7 km from the lake, which is accessible by car.”

HawkCount.org site profile, Hawk Ridge, quoted exactly.

Run by Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, under a trust agreement with the City of Duluth

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, Zimmerman FederalMarquee site

Wetland, oak savanna and big woods on the St. Francis River, with the Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive running through them

Sandhill crane

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

The refuge's own month by month account has cranes gathering in October to feed in upland fields by day, more than 14,000 of them at the peak at the end of October or in early November, then moving on through November as ice takes the wetlands. The Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive is the way most visitors see it.

“Sandhill cranes gather in numbers to roost in wetlands at night and feed in upland fields by day in preparation for migrating south.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, quoted exactly.

Run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Bethany Hawkwatch, Mankato Public platform

Two observation points in Mankato, one on the Bethany Lutheran College campus and one at Land of Memories Park near the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers

Broad-winged hawkSharp-shinned hawk

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

The southern Minnesota alternative to the Duluth ridge, and a long one: the fall count runs August 15 to December 15, far past the point most watches shut down. Campus counts go back to 2003 and river park counts to 2014. The broad-winged average is 3,120 a season, with 11,480 in 2023.

“The Bethany Hawkwatch utilizes two observation sites in the fall.”

HawkCount.org site profile, Bethany Hawkwatch, quoted exactly.

Run by Volunteer count reporting to HawkCount

Before you drive out to Minnesota

Viewing in Minnesota is run by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, whose own page is the one to read the night before.

That page carries the current picture: whether the auto tour route or platform is open, which units are closed for the season, festival dates, and where the agency counts birds, this week’s count.

Never assume a bird. Cranes, geese and swans move with the weather, so a staging area that held thousands on Tuesday can be nearly empty on Saturday after a front passes, and a warm autumn holds birds to the north for weeks. Never assume access either: a refuge road can be gated, flooded or closed for a unit without notice. Check with the agency before you travel, and stay on the platform, road or tour route it designates when you get there.

Links verified 2026-09-19. If one has moved, search the agency by name.

The map

Minnesota sites, refuges and the reporting record

Viewing sites in Minnesota, with the national wildlife refuges in the state drawn underneath. The coloured grid is where people have uploaded a verified sandhill crane record to iNaturalist in September, October, November and December, brighter where more have been logged. It is a map of reports rather than of birds: it thickens around refuges, car parks and towns because that is where observers stand, and it shows past reports rather than birds present today. Pins are public viewing sites an agency itself describes; grey dots are US Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and hatcheries, drawn because the refuge system is where most of the staging happens.

When

When the passage peaks in Minnesota

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge puts the Minnesota peak at Mid August to the end of November on the ridge above Duluth, and the end of October or early November for the cranes at Sherburne. That describes a pattern across past autumns. The week itself swings with the weather: a cold front to the north moves cranes and geese south in a single night, and a warm spell holds them for weeks. Dawn and the last hour before dusk are when cranes and geese move between the fields and the water, and that movement is the spectacle the platforms are built for.

Minnesota gets two different kinds of autumn. In the north, Lake Superior acts as a wall: raptors coming down from Canada refuse to cross it, follow the shore southwest, and funnel over the ridge above Duluth, where Hawk Ridge has counted them systematically since 1972 and averages nearly 36,000 broad-winged hawks a season. In the centre of the state, the wetlands at Sherburne fill with staging sandhill cranes that feed in the surrounding fields by day, more than 14,000 at the peak in late October or early November. A third count at Mankato works the southern part of the state from the middle of August all the way to the middle of December.

Below, one curve per species the agencies document in Minnesota: every research grade observation members of the public have uploaded to iNaturalist for the state, by calendar month across every year the platform holds, with September to December shaded. Counts of uploads, so they measure observers as well as birds, and the shape is worth reading where the absolute numbers are not.

Sandhill crane

2,923 research grade sandhill cranes observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Minnesota across every year the platform holds, and 18 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is April. An autumn month carries about 0.44 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Broad-winged hawk

1,363 research grade broad-winged hawks observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Minnesota across every year the platform holds, and 23 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is May. An autumn month carries about 0.59 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Sharp-shinned hawk

548 research grade sharp-shinned hawks observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Minnesota across every year the platform holds, and 57 percent of them fall in the four shaded autumn months. The busiest month in the record is September. An autumn month carries about 2.64 times as many uploads as an average month outside autumn. People upload most of everything in July, so a bar that rises after that is the stronger signal. Counts of what people reported, measuring observers as well as birds. See the autumn records.

Sandhill cranes flying in a loose line across a pale open sky, necks held straight out in front and long legs trailing behind them — Sandhill cranes crossing a refuge on the morning flight. The movement is watched from the designated pullout or platform: the birds settle on shallow water for the night, and the roost itself is the one place a viewing site is never placed. “Sandhill cranes flying over Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (24542820818)” by USFWS Midwest Region from United States, CC BY 2.0

Latest reports

What people have reported in Minnesota lately

The most recent research grade autumn observation of each species that anyone has uploaded to iNaturalist for Minnesota, as a date and the platform’s own coarse locality. Evidence that people do find sandhill crane and broad-winged hawk here. Each is one bird on one past day: the flocks move with the weather, so where they are this week is what the agency page and its counts answer.

Checking the most recent autumn uploads for Minnesota on iNaturalist...

Where Minnesota counts are published

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory fall count Daily from mid August through the end of November, reported to HawkCount | Minnesota

Elsewhere

Other states with agency designated migration viewing

Questions about Minnesota

Where can I watch fall migration in Minnesota?

Minnesota has 3 agency designated viewing sites in this inventory, 1 of them on federal land: Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, Duluth, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, Zimmerman and Bethany Hawkwatch, Mankato. Every one is a place U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge or another public agency itself describes for wildlife viewing, listed above with the facility that exists there, the months the agency names and a link to the agency page. Minnesota puts one of the country's best known hawk counts on a ridge above Duluth and the flyway's crane staging an hour north of the Twin Cities, and the two run back to back from August into November.

When is the fall migration peak in Minnesota?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge puts the Minnesota peak at Mid August to the end of November on the ridge above Duluth, and the end of October or early November for the cranes at Sherburne. That describes a pattern across past autumns, and the week itself swings with the weather: a cold front to the north moves cranes and geese south in a single night, and a warm spell holds them for weeks. The months named site by site above are the agency's own for each place, and the agency page carries what it says about this season.

Which species are documented at the Minnesota sites?

Sandhill cranes at 1 site, broad-winged hawks at 2 sites and sharp-shinned hawks at 2 sites. The species listed for each site are the ones the agency itself documents there in the fall, so a site may hold other migrants the agency page happens to leave out. The month curves further down show when people have reported each of these species in Minnesota, as a count of uploads to iNaturalist across every year the platform holds.

Will I definitely see sandhill cranes in Minnesota?

A sighting is never certain. Migrating birds move with weather fronts, so a staging area that held thousands on Tuesday can be nearly empty on Saturday after a front passes, and a warm autumn holds birds to the north for weeks. The sites above are the places where an agency has recorded enough birds often enough to build viewing provision, which is the best odds available anywhere. Arrive at first light or in the last hour before dusk, when cranes and geese move between the fields and the water, bring more magnification than you think you need, and stay on the platform, road or tour route the agency designates.

Who publishes current conditions for Minnesota?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, linked from the note on this page and from each site above. Its pages carry the things that change: refuge road and auto tour status, seasonal closures of units, festival dates, and in several states a dated crane or goose count from the refuge staff. Those change faster than any third party page can follow, so the agency page is the one to read before you travel.

Where are Minnesota migration counts published?

Inventory compiled 2026-09-19 from the agency pages linked above. Agency text is quoted exactly with its source named and linked; the observation curves and latest reports are counts and dates from public uploads to iNaturalist.

Winter eagle watching in MinnesotaThe same refuges and rivers three months later, when the ice concentrates the eagles.Minnesota waterfowl seasonThe hunting calendar on the same marshes, worth knowing before standing on a dike in October.Minnesota daylight hoursThe dawn and dusk flights are the spectacle, and the clock change moves them.