Area: 211.56 km2
Latitude: 50.398 N
Longitude: 97.645 W
The Shoal Lakes are three lakes located within Manitoba’s Interlake region, an hour northwest of Winnipeg’s city centre. The IBA is comprised of on extremely flat land, with marshes bordering the lakes and between the North and East Shoal Lakes, cattle pastures, and private land making up much of the area. A provincial gamebird refuge encompasses West Shoal Lake, and multiple Wildlife Management Areas are nestled amongst the lakes.
The IBA is significant for the concentration of waterfowl which stop at the lakes during their migration along with nesting pelicans (a maximum of 2.2% of the global population of American White Pelicans were recorded in the IBA at one time), grebes, and shorebirds (including the endangered Piping Plover). Duck species including Canvasbacks, Blue-winged Teals, Ruddy Ducks, and Gadwalls can be found in the Shoal Lakes IBA, with as many as 50,000 ducks observed on single day counts. Other species known to breed in the area include Western Grebes, Eared Grebes, Least Bitterns, American Avocets, Willets, and Black-crowned Night Herons.
Pastures surrounding the lakes provide suitable habitat for the threatened Red-headed Woodpecker and the Manitoba IBA Program conducts an annual RHWO blitz in the surrounding area. IBA staff have also positively identified Eastern Whip-poor Wills during evening surveys throughout the IBA.
See below for maps on where to find birds, stories relating to North, West, & East Shoal Lakes IBA, and priorities for monitoring.
Where to bird:
- Erinview Campground and Rd 94 N on East Shoal Lake
- MB 518 along West Shoal Lake
- Rd 12 W from Vestfold to Markland around Lindals Lake
- Look for Red-headed Woodpeckers in cow pastures with dead trees and low-density understory
- The Shoal Lakes IBA is relatively close to other IBAs including, Marshy Point, Delta Marsh, and Oak Hammock Marsh
Birding by car is most common here, but birders will often stop at a location and set up a spotting scope to observe birds out on the lakes or in the marshes.
When to bird:
- Summer: nesting pelicans, grebes, and plovers
- July: juvenile Red-headed Woodpeckers fledge
- Fall migration: vast flocks of Canada Geese, Snow Geese, and Cackling Geese
