The American black duck can be confused with the mallard, but its purple speculum and paler speckled head can help distinguish it.
The mute swan, an Old World species transplanted to the Great Lakes, lives year-round throughout much of Lake Michigan's coast.
If deeper lakes are not frozen, these ducks can be observed across the state in winter.
During summer nights, lakeside homes and campsites can hear the haunting sounds of these graceful divers, who stay out on vast, deep lakes.
In southeastern Michigan, the great black-backed gull is a magnificent sight.
The pale plumage, pink legs, and yellow bill of these birds make them easy to distinguish.
On islands and beaches, summer breeding colonies can also be found, but they are absent from southwestern Michigan.
These small, delicate plovers breed on remote northern beaches near the Straits of Mackinac, and several conservation efforts are in place to safeguard their nesting grounds.
The upper and northern lower peninsulas of Michigan represent the southernmost extent of this bird's common breeding habitat.
This bird is believed to be near threatened (formerly endangered) because it exclusively breeds in isolated.