Magee Marsh--Causeway Marshes (Lucas Co.)

Tips for Birding

Please, be safe. It is never safe to stop your car on OH-2 in this area. State and local police ticket drivers pulled over to the side of this highway.

The south portion of Magee Marsh Wildlife Area (near OH-2) is in Ottawa County. The north portion of the wildlife area (near Lake Erie) is in Lucas County. (See map for the location of the Lucas/Ottawa county line.) Magee Marsh is one of those locations in Ohio where a county line runs right through the middle of the area! Thus, there is no “general” hotspot for all of Magee Marsh. There are eBird hotspots for each county.

Magee Marsh is a stop on the Lake Erie Birding Trail.

Magee Marsh Boardwalk Code of Ethics
From Birding Magee Marsh website
Tips on submitting eBird checklists at Magee Marsh

About this Location

The open marsh on either side of the Causeway can be filled with birds. As you drive into Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, the first and longest section of the Causeway is in Ottawa County. The county line crosses the Causeway just before the north most pull off. There is a short section of the Causeway nearest to Lake Erie. The birds, of course, do not care about the county line and freely cross it. Some eBirders carefully keep their personal lists by county.

About Magee Marsh

See all hotspots at Magee Marsh

The Lake Erie marshes gained fame during the late 1800s as some of the best waterfowl hunting areas in the United States. Wealthy hunters vied to purchase choice hunting sites, and as early as 1890 much of the wetland area was being operated for private shooting. By the end of 1951 the entire 30,000 acres of remaining marshland along Lake Erie, from Toledo to Sandusky, was under private club ownership. Today, the region still supports some of the most intensively developed and managed waterfowling clubs in the Midwest. The Magee Marsh Wildlife Area, purchased by the Ohio Division of Wildlife in August 1951, lies in some of Ohio’s finest remaining wetlands. The marsh complex has historically been inhabited by large numbers of waterfowl, waterbirds, shorebirds, and songbirds. The primary responsibility at Magee Marsh is the development and maintenance of high quality wetland habitat for a diverse array of wetland wildlife species.

During fall migration, thousands of Canada geese, mallards, black ducks, widgeon, and green-winged teal will use this portion of Lake Erie’s Western Basin marshes. Other common species found in Magee Marsh include pintails, gadwalls, shovelers, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, and red-breasted mergansers. Lesser numbers of redheads, scaup, buffleheads, ruddy ducks, and canvasbacks also frequent Magee Marsh during migration. Fall duck populations usually peak around mid-November. These shallow marshes usually freeze over during the third week of November, but Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie normally remain open until mid-December. This open water, combined with an abundance of waste cereal grains in nearby fields, tends to hold relatively large populations of ducks in the area until late in the hunting season. Spring flights of migrating waterfowl become apparent after the frozen marshes begin to thaw in February. Early flights of pintails, mallards, and black ducks follow the freeze line. Local giant Canada geese, along with a small population of wintering migratory geese, will stay through the winter in the vicinity of Magee Marsh. Flocks of migrating tundra swans, sometimes numbering 2,000-3,000 appear in late March and remain in the area until the end of April. Spring and fall migrations are spectacular at Magee Marsh, with more than 300 species of birds being recorded in the area. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, osprey, and a large variety of hawks can be seen at Magee Marsh during the spring. A forested beach ridge located on Magee provides a critical feeding and resting habitat for more than 150 species of migrating songbirds, including 36 species of warblers, as they rest and refuel before continuing on their journey. An accessible boardwalk that meanders through this beach ridge provides some of the best bird watching opportunities in the Midwest. During the summer, herons, egrets, pied-billed grebes, ducks, and Canada geese can be seen in the marsh and along the waterways, and a variety of migrating shorebirds can be spotted as they feed in the mudflats during late summer and early fall. Always remember to keep your eyes open for a glimpse of the bald eagles that frequent the marsh.

Magee Marsh Wildlife Area attracts birders from all over the world. There are a number of Hotspots set up in eBird to receive your bird checklists when you visit.

Restrooms at Magee Marsh are available inside the Migratory Bird Center. Portable toilets are at the Black Swamp Bird Observatory office all year and seasonally at the parking lot for the Magee Marsh boardwalk.

The Migratory Bird Center is handicap accessible. The boardwalk at Magee Marsh is wheelchair accessible.

Content from Magee Marsh Official Website and Ohio Ornithological Society