The Niagara River links Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It flows along the international border between Canada and the U.S.A.
It is the location of the center of the Niagara River Globally Significant Important Bird and Biodiversity Area, the the Niagara River Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Both of these conservation areas extend into Lakes Erie and Ontario.
-Migratory and resident birds use this are for food, shelter, and socialization.
-Spring and summer birds come through here on a migration from the southern hemisphere, and some from as far away as the Antarctic. Many birds that breed here during the warmer seasons winter in Central America, the Amazon, the Caribbean, and the southern U.S., and Mexico.
-Winter birds include birds migrating from the Arctic and the boreal forests of the Northwest and the Northeast. These include Snowy Owl, many species of waterfowl including ducks, swans, and geese, large populations of typical regional winter birds, and in some winters irruptive species from the north such as finches.
Niagara Falls Canada/USA
The Nelson Park Marina in Niagara-on-the-Lake is a hotspot for the gull-flyby at dusk, as Little Gulls can be picked out amongst the many Bonepartes returning to the lake to roost for the night. Little Gulls can also usually be spotted daily at the Queenston Docks (also informally known as the Sand Docks), where sometimes Black-legged Kittiwake can be found. Sadly, parking is no longer free at this location. Climbing higher and entering Niagara Falls, Locust Grove is a little park with a big boast: Black Vulture can be found here all year round (although it does take a bit of luck, and a scope is helpful if you want to identify the vultures roosting across the river on the green church roof). You can also check the river down below for gulls. But for real top-down gull-watching, the Adam Beck Overlook is the hotspot: Iceland Gulls are numerous and there is often a Glaucous Gull hanging around. The Aerocar Overlook has an amazing view over the Whirlpool, where again Black-legged Kittiwake can sometimes be found amongst the Bonepartes Gulls.
From the actual Niagara Falls down to the Control Gates, there are many spots to see the thousands of gulls and ducks that winter over in the river; almost anything is possible. Note that there is very little free parking to be found on this part of the river, but a Niagara Parks Parking Pass is affordable, good for the whole year and good for almost every NPC parking lot. Not far from the Niagara Falls, Dufferin Islands is an accessible nature park with a wide variety of bird life, including typical “winter passerines” (such as Tufted Titmouse), Belted Kingfisher, and ducks (the occasional very surprising visitor makes an appearance: Dufferin Islands hosted a Black-bellied Whistling Duck for more than four months in 2021!).
As you drive through Chippawa and Fort Erie towards the Peace Bridge, there are again many pullover spots to check out the river, all of which could have any number of ducks and sometimes swans (both Trumpeter and Tundra). In addition, Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles can often be found hunting near or on the length of the river.
Anyone seriously interested in birding the Canadian side of the Niagara Region is encouraged to read “Niagara Birds” by John. E Black and Kayo J. Roy, which, while out of print, is available for free from Brock University’s website here: http://hdl.handle.net/10464/12572′
The International Niagara River Corridor
