Hulah Lake

Hulah Lake

Whippoorwill, Oklahoma 74056

About this Location

Follow US 75 north from Bartlesville and SH 10 west past Copan Lake to Hulah Dam Overlook. From Pawhuska follow SH 99 north; turn east on SH 10 and continue to the dam. During fall, winter, and early spring, fourteen species of birds of prey may be found at the dam site or on the high prairies, some of common occurrence, others classified as uncommon to rare.

In the common category are Red-tailed and Rough-legged hawks; Northern Harrier, and American Kestrel. The less common are Ferruginous Hawk; Prairie Falcon, Merlin; Sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks; Osprey, a rare Goshawk, Bald Eagle in deep winter, and, rarely, Golden Eagle. During this period there are numerous waterfowl and waterbirds. Rare are Oldsquaw, Black Duck, and Red-breasted and Hooded mergansers. Common Loons and Eared, Horned and Western grebes are sometimes seen. The common gulls include Ring-billed, Franklin's, and Bonaparte's. Herring Gulls are found occasionally. Black and Forster's terns are common during early fall and late spring migration. Caspian and Least terns are less common.

Numerous shorebirds come to the mud-bar edges of the lake during migration. Included are yellowlegs, dowitchers, snipe; Pectoral, Spotted, Solitary, and Stilt sandpipers, and small peeps. Less common are Willets, American Avocets and Sandhill Cranes (rare). Prairie-Chickens may be seen on high prairie approaches to the dam. Occasionally Smith's and Lapland longspurs, Mountain Bluebirds, and Short-eared Owls can be seen in this same area.

Content from Originally published in Tulsa Audubon's "A Guide to Birding in Oklahoma" (1973, 1986)

Last updated November 10, 2023