NATIONAL EAGLE CENTER | Eagle Viewing Field Trip

Winter is the best time to visit the National Eagle Center and Wabasha, Minnesota offers a unique opportunity to see both of North America’s eagle species in the wild. You can learn more about eagles in the Upper Mississippi River Valley and get great views of Bald and Golden Eagles in the wild on a guided eagle tour into prime eagle habitat with our expert naturalists. You can view these majestic birds in the wild while learning about their habitat, behavior, and tips for identifying them on your own. Plus, you never know what other wildlife we may see along the way! Minimal walking is required and photography is highly encouraged.

The Upper Mississippi River Valley is home to hundreds of Bald Eagles. In the summer months, Bald Eagles nest along the river valley and feed their young from the plentiful fish of the Mississippi River. In the winter months, hundreds more Bald Eagles migrate to this area to find open water on the Mississippi River near Wabasha, MN. You can learn more about eagles in the Upper Mississippi River Valley and get great views of Bald Eagles and nests along the river on a guided field trip with our expert naturalists.

Golden Eagles are beautiful and majestic raptors, but they are also much more secretive and elusive than Bald Eagles. Thanks to the ongoing work of the Golden Eagle Project, we are learning more and more about the population from the arctic tundra of northern Canada that overwinters in this region and their behavior. These guided experiences are a truly great way to learn how to identify Golden Eagles and distinguish them from juvenile Bald Eagles, and receive pointers on how better spot them and where to look for them on your own.

Field trips are a traveling classroom experience and take place on a coach bus. They begin at 1:00pm at the National Eagle Center and conclude between 4:30 – 5:00pm back at the Center with light refreshments. Participants should dress for the weather and bring their own binoculars, spotting scopes, and cameras if desired. Little walking is required. There are no age restrictions, but we do not recommend these experiences for young children who may not handle sitting on a bus for long periods very well. However, we leave this up to parental discretion.

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