The Coolest Birds To See On The Columbia River

When I first moved to the Tri-Cities, I wasn't sure I would stay. I'd initially wanted to move to the coast - but a friend who grew up here encouraged us to try the area out. Over seven years later, I'm glad I made the move: I didn't anticipate how much I'd love living just off a major river.

I love nature, so one of my favorite things to do here is to walk along the Columbia River trails and look for wildlife, which the river has in plenty - especially birds. While I saw plenty on my walks, it wasn't until I started working just off the riverbank that I really began to appreciate some of the birds I hadn't seen on my trail walks. It was like I'd "missed" an entire set of awesome birds that were waiting for me to see them in the calm, undisturbed mornings and evenings.

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I'm an amateur "birder", but I do keep up with our local Birding group on Facebook - and recently decided I'd join eBird, a platform and app which supports science and conservation through "field" reports from the average person like you and I. Still, after years of casual bird watching along the river, I wanted to share with you the coolest birds (in my opinion) you can spot along the Columbia River!

I've yet to see a Ferruginous Hawk myself, but I know someone else who spotted one just recently - and their presence has even resulted in changes to a planned wind farm near Tri-Cities.

You might also spot some of these common feathered friends.

There's so many more bird species out there to find - you can check eBird's current stats of identification in Benton County and Franklin County to learn about the other species you might encounter out there. And who knows - if you're not a birder, maybe you'll become one on your next trail walk!