The habitat diversity of the Abbey Arboretum allows for a great diversity of wildlife.  Water birds, birds of prey, shore birds, warblers, and many other kinds of birds can be found here, including many rare species such as Sandhill Cranes, Red-shouldered Hawks, Cerulean warblers, and others.

Photo Galleries

The below photo galleries divide birds of the Abbey Arboretum into perching and non-perching birds. Perching birds tend to be smaller, and resemble “song birds.” Non-perching birds tend to be larger, and have talons or webbed feet. Photos were taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Species Checklist

• Letter (8.5 x 11) (3 pages)
• Legal (8.5 x 14) (2 pages)

The checklist is composed of 240 species of birds which occur regularly within the state of Minnesota and have been seen at Saint John’s.  The checklist is adapted from Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union. For more information on each species click the highlighted birds below. Links to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, with description and identification information for each species.

Seasonal ease of viewing codes are provided for the Saint John’s University region.

C = Common: Regularly present, easy to find and see in appropriate habitat.
U = Uncommon: Present in small numbers, less easy to find and see.
O = Occasional: Irregularly present, a year or two may pass between sightings.
R = Rare: Has occurred at least once at Saint John’s (Outside of normal range).
__= Yet to be recorded in this season at Saint John’s.

A special thank you to Cornell Lab of Ornithology for allowing us to link to their website. Saint John’s Abbey Arboretum would also like to thank Phil Chu, Norm Ford, Bob Rodgers, Bob Russell, and Bruce Wollmering, OSB for help in completion of this list.