Sleeping Bear Birding Trail

Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Birding Trail spans an important migratory flyway and thousands of public acres along the Lake Michigan coastline. Anchored by Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the trail follows the M-22 corridor from Manistee to the Manitou Islands, tracing 123 miles of shoreline, forest, wetland, orchard, vineyard, and beach habitat. The diverse habitats and broad public access along the trail make this one of the most rewarding birding regions in Michigan. Visitors can experience a remarkable variety of landscapes while observing the birds that depend on them.

Read about the various locations on the trail →

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Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is both a National Park and an important bird area, with 71,000 acres of public land and 35 miles of beaches. The park outlines the northwest shoreline and the “little finger” of Michigan’s mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula. The variety of habitat found here, together with the public access and miles of shoreline, makes this a birder’s paradise.

From forests, orchards, and vineyards to wetlands and beaches, the trail offers a remarkable range of places to explore. There is a great deal to experience here, both for dedicated birders and for visitors simply hoping to spend time in a landscape rich in birds and habitat.

Piping Plovers

The trail is home to the Piping Plover, an endangered shorebird that requires wide stretches of undisturbed beach for nesting. Piping Plovers are sand-colored on the back and white below. During the breeding season, adults have a black forehead band between the eyes and a single black band around the neck. Their larger relative, the Killdeer, is commonly seen at parks, playgrounds, and golf courses and has two dark bands around the neck.

Piping Plovers nest only on beaches and prefer beaches with cobble. There are three small populations: one in the Great Plains, one on the Atlantic Coast, and one here in the Great Lakes. They winter together along the Gulf Coast, then return to their separate breeding areas each spring. It is a special opportunity to observe Piping Plovers here, since there are only about 50 to 60 nesting pairs in the entire Great Lakes region and fewer than 5,000 individuals worldwide.

Please help protect them

Please observe and obey closed-area fencing and enjoy Piping Plovers from a respectful distance. Keep dogs and other pets on leashes and out of areas of the beach that are closed to pets. Do not feed gulls or leave food on the beach, since that increases gull numbers and attracts predators that may also threaten plovers and their chicks.

If you encounter a Plover family outside the fencing, give them plenty of space. The chicks are very small, well camouflaged, and can disappear quickly in sand or cobble. They are easily stepped on if visitors are not paying attention.

If you see anyone harassing Piping Plovers, please report it to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore headquarters at (231) 326-5134.

For more detailed information about Piping Plovers, visit the National Park Service page: Piping Plover information from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.