Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette Musicians Seth and Desiree Brown of Finding Feathers provided the musical backdrop for the City of Houghton’s Spring on the Wing event Saturday at the downtown pier.

HOUGHTON — The City of Houghton celebrated its Bird City designation by hosting Spring on the Wing, an avian-focused event Saturday at the Houghton Pier.

The event saw several environmental organizations manning tables, including Keweenaw Land Trust, Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA), Copper Country Bird Club and more. A local author and two local produce vendors were also present, along with a breakfast food truck — Mornin’ Sunshine. Musical act Finding Feathers provided popular folksy covers for folks to listen to while checking out tables.

Managing Director of Visit Keweenaw, Jesse Wiederhold, said Houghton’s designation as a Bird City is very important, not only for the local wildlife but for residents too.

“The Keweenaw is one of the last spots for birds returning to the Great Lakes area when they’re going to Canada,” Wiederhold said. “It’s so cool that we are on a map connecting to South America for bird migrations.”

Wiederhold said he was contacted by Michigan Tech’s Dean of the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, David Flaspohler, to get momentum going on recognizing Houghton as an important corridor for bird migration. In less than a month, the City of was honored with the Bird City title.

According to Copper Country Bird Club Board member, Tom Oliver, birding is a part of culture in the Keweenaw.

“We have a wide variety of habitats that are very close to each other,” he said. “You could see birds that are on the big lake. Different types of deep-water ducks and loons … but then inland, there’s marshes and rocky cliff lines and forests — it’s a great mixture of habitats for a wide variety of birds.”

Aside from migratory bird watching, there is a plethora of nature preserves to see birds in their natural habitat. For Keweenaw Land Trust Community Engagement Manager, Tiff DeGroot, birding and land conservation go hand in hand.

“Keweenaw Land Trust manages 30 different nature areas and all of them are public access,” she said. “The benefit of the land trust is that we’re protecting land in perpetuity.”

DeGroot said even within Houghton there are places to explore and go birding at. Mason Nature Area, located just south of Montezuma Avenue, is one of the properties KLT manages.

“There are owls there sometimes,” she said. “We’ve had volunteers who have run owl walks in that area. It’s a great little pocket of nature right within the city.”

One threat posed to bird populations in the area is invasive species. Popular examples would be sea lampreys or carp. According to KISMA Coordinator, Sigrid Resh, invasive plants and insects pose threats to native animals higher up in the food chain.

“If those native species get replaced or outcompeted by invasive woody shrubs in their forests or even landscape species in their yard, then the native insects that require their food can no longer recognize those plants, then they can’t feed the native birds,” she said. “So, it’s actually a food web effect.”

For people ready to learn more about birds and birding in the Keweenaw, there were many different activities for them to do. Oliver gave out binoculars for novice birders to try out at the CCBC table. He said people can even participate in birding from the comfort of their homes.

“We will have webcams up on different locations for great horned owl nests,” he said. “We had a successful nest this year on Skyline Commons and we currently have a nesting family of great horned owls on the Quincy Mine Shaft.”