page_title: Birds of North American boreal forests
section_title: Birds that are minimally dependent on boreal forests
hierarchical_section_title: Birds of North American boreal forests / Birds that are minimally dependent on boreal forests
caption_attribution_description: Cinclus mexicanusEnglish: American dipper photographed on Kodiak Island
context_page_description: The boreal forest or taiga of the North American continent stretches through a majority of Canada and most of central Alaska, extending spottily into the beginning of the Rocky Mountain range in Northern Montana and into New England and the Adirondack Mountains of New York. This habitat extends as far north as the tree line and discontinues in mixed deciduous-coniferous forests to the south. The "taiga", as it is called there, of Eurasia occupies a similar range on those continents. Throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the boreal forest covers 2.3 million square miles, a larger area than the remaining Brazilian Amazon rain forest. Although it is largely forest, the boreal forests include a network of lakes, river valleys, wetlands, peat lands and semi-open tundra.
  Only 8% of the Canadian boreal forest is protected and over 30% has already been designated for logging, energy and other development, much of it within the last decade. The U.S. is the leading importer of Canadian wood products as well as oil and gas, having purchased 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian forest products in 2001.
context_section_description: These are birds usually at their fringe of their ranges in the boreal forest or that occur less frequently as breeders in the boreal forest because their ideal habitat is not included in the taiga.
  Ross's goose, Chen rossii
  Wood duck, Aix sponsa
  Gadwall, Anas strepera
  Blue-winged teal Anas discors
  Cinnamon teal, Anas cyanoptera
  Redhead, Aythya americana
  Ruddy duck, Oxyura jamaicensis
  Yellow-billed loon, Gavia adamsii
  Pied-billed grebe Podilymbus podiceps
  Eared grebe, Podiceps nigricollis
  Western grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis
  Great blue heron, Ardea herodias
  Green heron, Butorides virescens
  Black-crowned night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax
  Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura
  Tundra swan, Cygnus columbianus
  Cooper's hawk, Accipiter cooperii
  American kestrel, Falco sparverius
  Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus
  Sharp-tailed grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus
  Gray partridge, Perdix perdix
  Ring-necked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus
  Wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo
  Virginia rail, Rallus limicola
  American coot, Fulica americana
  Black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola
  Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus
  American avocet, Recurvirostra americana
  Willet, Tringa semipalmata
  Upland sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda
  Marbled godwit, Limosa fedoa
  Bar-tailed godwit, Limosa lapponica
  Bristle-thighed curlew, Numenius tahitiensis
  Long-billed curlew, Numenius americanus
  Ruddy turnstone, Arenaria interpres
  Black turnstone, Arenaria melanocephala
  Buff-breasted sandpiper, Tryngites subruficollis
  Red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicaria
  California gull, Larus californicus
  Glaucous-winged gull, Larus glaucescens
  Glaucous gull, Larus hyperboreus
  Sabine's gull, Xema sabini
  Caspian tern, Hydroprogne caspia
  Forster's tern, Sterna forsteri
  Rock pigeon, Columba livia
  Mourning dove, Zenaida macroura
  Eastern screech-owl, Megascops asio
  Snowy owl, Nyctea scandiaca
  Northern pygmy-owl, Glaucidium gnoma
  Short-eared owl, Asio flammeus
  Common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor
  Whip-poor-will, Caprimulgus vociferus
  Chimney swift, Chaetura pelagica
  Ruby-throated hummingbird, Archilochus colubris
  Rufous hummingbird, Selasphorus rufus
  Red-naped sapsucker, Sphyrapicus nuchalis
  Red-breasted sapsucker, Sphyrapicus ruber
  Downy woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
  Eastern wood-pewee, Contopus virens
  Willow flycatcher, Empidonax traillii
  Hammond's flycatcher, Empidonax hammondii
  Dusky flycatcher, Empidonax oberholseri
  Cordilleran flycatcher, Empidonax occidentalis
  Say's phoebe, Sayornis saya
  Great crested flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus
  Western kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis
  Yellow-throated vireo, Vireo flavifrons
  Cassin's vireo, Vireo cassinii
  Steller's jay, Cyanocitta stelleri
  Clark's nutcracker, Nucifraga columbiana
  Purple martin, Progne subis
  Violet-green swallow, Tachycineta thalassina
  Cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
  Barn swallow, Hirundo rustica
  Mountain chickadee, Poecile gambeli
  Chestnut-backed chickadee, Poecile rufescens
  White-breasted nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis
  House wren, Troglodytes aedon
  Sedge wren, Cistothorus platensis
  Marsh wren, Cistothorus palustris
  American dipper, Cinclus mexicanus
  Red-throated pipit, Anthus cervinus
  Yellow wagtail, Motacilla flava
  Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica
  Eastern bluebird, Sialia sialis
  Mountain bluebird, Sialia currucoides
  Wood thrush, Hylocichla mustelina
  Gray catbird, Dumetella carolinensis
  Brown thrasher, Toxostoma rufum
  European starling, Sturnus vulgaris
  Golden-winged warbler, Vermivora chrysoptera
  Northern parula, Setophaga americana
  Townsend's warbler, Setophaga townsendi
  Pine warbler, Setophaga pinus
  Prairie warbler, Setophaga discolor
  MacGillivray's warbler, Geothlypis tolmiei
  Scarlet tanager, Piranga olivacea
  Western tanager, Piranga ludoviciana
  Spotted towhee, Pipilo maculatus
  Eastern towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus
  Brewer's sparrow, Spizella breweri
  Lark sparrow, Chondestes grammacus
  Vesper sparrow Pooecetes gramineus
  Baird's sparrow, Ammodramus bairdii
  Grasshopper sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum
  Harris's sparrow, Zonotrichia querula
  Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
  Indigo bunting, Passerina cyanea
  Bobolink, Dolichonyx oryzivoru
caption: American dipper
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