Birds of Coastal Washington

Birds of Coastal Washington (Best Little Book of Birds)

Birding the Washington Coast

The Washington Coast, including the Pacific Ocean, Strait of Juande Fuca, Salish Sea, Puget Sound, nearly infinite coves, islands, and inlets, is said to run 3,026 miles from Canada to the Oregon border. A s a point of comparison, the longest straight-line distance across the United States is from Jupiter, Florida, to Ocean Creek, Washington, and is 2,802 miles long.

Spanning two ecoregions, from the Snow Geese of Skagit fields to the Snowy Plovers of Cape Disappointment, coastal habitats include prairies, forest, sandy beaches and dunes, rocky shores and cliffs, salt and freshwater wetlands, and estuaries.

Estuaries are important resources for many bird species throughout the year. Supplying food, cover, nesting, and roosting, the least disturbed estuaries in the Salish Sea and Puget Sound are the Skagit, Snohomish, Nisqually, and Stillaguamish Rivers. On the Pacific Coast, the dominant estuaries are the Chehalis River at Grays Harbor, the Willapa River, and, on the Oregon border, the colossal Columbia River.

Thirty-one of Washington state’s 75 Important Bird Areas are on the coast, from Semiahmoo Spit in the Salish Sea to Deception Pass in Puget Sound to Cape Disappointment overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River. Designated by the National Audubon Society, Important Bird Areas provide essential bird habitat during breeding, wintering, and migration. They also offer opportunities for birders to enjoy the species of the season, finding concentrations of birds not commonly found at other times.

Olympic National Park, numerous city and state parks, and national forests offer extensive public lands to explore. Innumerable urban and wildland trails, beaches, and quiet back roads are within reach of every town. The ferry system allows the otherwise landbound birder to easily get on the water and find a whole new habitat to delve into. The sheer length of coastline combined with variety of habitats, numerous estuaries, fresh- and saltwater, range of elevation and latitude, integrating with migratory flyways can provide near limitless birding opportunities. Choose a habitat, a season, a specific park, or a species of interest to spark a birding expedition. Slow down, enjoy the trip, and take time to appreciate the birds