BIRDS Port Orford and its surrounding areas are teaming with a variety of birds.
Here are just a few*…
In the Elk River area: Swainson’s thrush, marble murriet, hairy and
downy woodpeckers, Steller’s jay, warbling vireo, and swallows.
The Elk River south to Paradise Point: loons, grebes, brown pelican, cormorants,
scoters, alcids such as common murre, pigeon guillemot.
Garrison Lake: red-winged blackbird, violet-green and barn swallows, American
goldfinch, house finch, song and fox sparrows, Stellar’s jay, and
great blue heron. Others sources list these water birds: Arctic loon, red-throated
loon, horned grebe, pied-billed grebe, brown pelican, double-crested comorant,
green heron, black-crowned night heron, American bittern, whistling swan,
mallard, gadwall, green-winged teal, cinnamon teal, shoveler, ring-necked
duck, canvasback, greater scaup, lesser scaup, bufflehead, oldsquaw (a
long-tailed duck), ruddy duck, hooded merganser, American coot, and herring
gull. Shore birds listed are band-tailed pigeon, rock dove, mourning dove,
and belted kingfisher.**
At the Headlands: Harlequin ducks, oldsquaw, peregrine falcon, Allen’s,
Rufus’, and Anna’s hummingbirds, loons, grebes, and brown pelican.
In the Humbug Mountain area: winter wren, Swainson’s thrush, red-breasted
nuthatch, hermit warbler, red-tailed hawk, plus shore birds and gulls.
Other birding sources list: overwintering eagles, falcons, heron, American
dipper (builds nests of moss and walks under water), Mergus merganser (a
fish-eating, diving duck), owls, various species of accipiters, harriers,
and other buteos, like the red-tailed hawk.
Check out the rose-breasted grosbeak, scissor-tailed flycatcher, white
and American goldfinch pictured on the Kalmiopsis Audubon Society website
at http://www.harborside.com/~pfandha/audubon/.
Contact the society at P.O. Box 1265, Port Orford, OR 97465.
*Thanks to Jim Rogers for the above list of local birds and their habitat.
**Thanks to the Garrison Lake Restoration Association for their list of
birds and information about Garrison Lake.
In the Elk River area: Swainson’s thrush, marble murriet, hairy and
downy woodpeckers, Steller’s jay, warbling vireo, and swallows.
At the Headlands: Harlequin ducks, oldsquaw, peregrine falcon, Allen’s,
Rufus’, and Anna’s hummingbirds, loons, grebes, and brown pelican.
Check out the rose-breasted grosbeak, scissor-tailed flycatcher, white
and American goldfinch pictured on the Kalmiopsis Audubon Society website
at 
