Riverway Specialties

Watch for Osprey feeding on fish while perched in shoreline trees.

NPS/VanTatenhove

Common Riverway Species

You are likely to see these species on most stretches of the Riverway and during most seasons of year with the exception of winter.

Bald Eagles

• Over 30 pairs are known to nest on or near the St. Croix and Namekagon rivers.
• Large concentrations of eagles heading north are common after ice breakup.
• Eagles are abundant at times with 30-40 birds seen per hour in St. Croix Falls during fall migration.
• You can see occasional year-round resident birds near open water, especially between Highway 8 and the hydroelectric dam.

Osprey

• Osprey breed within the park boundaries, building nests similar to eagle nests.
• Watch for interactions between ospreys and bald eagles.

Common Mergansers

• Swimming groups, containing multiple females with broods of their young, are common on the rivers.
• They dive for fish and are sometimes called "sawbills" because of their serrated beaks.

Great Blue Heron

• Several heron rookeries are located on or near the rivers.
• Watch for them stalking prey near the shoreline.

Turkey Vultures

• These large birds gather over the dam in St. Croix Falls and Taylors Falls, riding the thermal air currents as they rise.
• They hold their wings in a shallow "V" and tip from side to side as they soar.

 

A male Prothonotary Warbler has blue-gray colored wings, bright yellow plumage, and black eyes and beak.

Brian Collins

Home to Uncommon Species

The Riverway is a stronghold for these birds which are sometimes rare in other places.

Red-shouldered Hawks

• The St. Croix River is one of the best places in Minnesota and Wisconsin to find these birds.
• Common from St. Croix State Park south on the St. Croix.

Prothonotary Warblers

• These birds nest in tree cavities in bottomland forests and are common south of St. Croix Falls/Taylors Falls, especially along the smaller back channels.

Golden-winged Warblers

• The Riverway is located at the heart of their breeding range.
• See them north of Highway 70 on the St. Croix and on the Namekagon River.
• This species is under consideration for state-level threatened and endangered species lists.

Trumpeter Swans

• Successfully reintroduced to this area in the 1980s.
• Some birds wear yellow collars with numbers that help biologists track individuals and estimate populations.
• In winter, they congregate on the St. Croix River near Nevers Dam Landing and at the mouth of the Willow River in Hudson—anywhere near open water.

Louisianna Waterthrush

• Listed as special concern by the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
• Requires mature forest in wet areas.
• Frequently found along rocky, swift flowing streams in forested steep sided valleys.

Cerulean Warbler

• Listed as threatened by the State of Wisconsin and of special concern by the State of Minnesota.
• These birds prefer lowland deciduous forests dominated by mature stands of trees.