Birdwatching at Crater Lake
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Straddling the crest of Oregon’s Southern Cascades, the park supports a mix of high-altitute wildlife from two distinct regions – the more temporate western slope and drier, high desert areas of eastern Oregon. It can be an exciting place to see wildlife. Eighty percent of the park lies within the subalpine forest zone usually considered as 5,000 feet or higher in this latitude.
Since the park was founded prior to mass commercial logging of the High Cascades, most of the park is old growth forest, of which only about 10% remains. A short growing season and low nutrient volcanic soils do not allow for the huge growth of trees as often seen in Western Oregon forests.
Some of the habitats in which you will find birds include Crater Lake itself, but also mountain hemlock, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine forests, willow streamside and Montane meadows, and the pumice deserts. Each can have their own specific birds.
Park Bird Checklist for Crater Lake
Bird-checklist downloadable pdf version
Other Pages About Birds
Dr. Frank Lang (Nature Notes) as some wonderful essays
- Dippers
- Jays
- American Robin
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Spotted Owl
Other pages in this section
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