Forillon National Park

National Park · Canada

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Photo © No machine-readable author provided. Dlanglois assumed (based on copyright claims).

Photo © No machine-readable author provided. Dlanglois assumed (based on copyright claims). — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

Where the Gaspésie Peninsula juts into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, granite cliffs and coastal headlands frame one of eastern Canada's most dramatic marine-terrestrial boundaries. Forillon National Park spans 701 square kilometres of rugged terrain where boreal forest meets rocky shoreline, creating a mosaic of ecological niches that support a richly layered fauna. Inland, coniferous and mixed deciduous woodlands harbour small forest mammals, woodland songbirds, and birds of prey that hunt through the dappled understory. The park's extensive coastline—shaped by glacial legacy and Atlantic storms—generates upwelling currents that draw seabirds, marine mammals, and migratory fish species into its waters. Salt marshes, rocky intertidal zones, and deep-water channels create a three-dimensional habitat that shifts daily with tide and season, supporting everything from waders and shorebirds to pinnipeds and cetaceans that breach within sight of land. The interplay between land and sea here is visceral: ancient bedrock, maritime climate, and the collision of cold currents produce an environment where biodiversity defies the austere reputation of far northern latitudes.

For wildlife observers, Forillon delivers an unusually concentrated opportunity to photograph both terrestrial and marine fauna within a single destination. The park's rocky headlands and coastal trails offer vantage points for scanning the Gulf; seabirds congregate in predictable numbers during migration and breeding seasons, while marine mammals appear with reliable frequency in spring and summer months. The landscape's sculptural drama—wind-carved cliffs, wave-cut platforms, and forested valleys—provides the kind of atmospheric backdrop that transforms wildlife documentation into visual storytelling. Early morning light rakes across the peninsula's eastern face, illuminating both the geological architecture and the animals that move through it. Access by vehicle and maintained footpaths keeps the best viewing areas within reach of photographers and birders of varying fitness levels, while the park's scale ensures that serious observers can spend multiple days discovering new habitat pockets and seasonal specialties. The combination of boreal forest wildlife, marine megafauna, and migratory spectacles makes Forillon an essential destination for those seeking to understand Atlantic Canada's ecological character.

Website pc.gc.ca/fr/pn-np/qc/forillon

Bubo scandiacus

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Somateria mollissima

Double-crested Cormorant

Nannopterum auritum

Histrionicus histrionicus

Melospiza melodia

Great Blue Heron

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Downy Woodpecker

Dryobates pubescens

Dark-eyed Junco

American Black Duck

Ring-billed Gull

Larus delawarensis

Haemorhous purpureus

Hairy Woodpecker

Leuconotopicus villosus

Black-capped Chickadee

Poecile atricapillus

Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca

White-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys

Anas platyrhynchos

Northern Flicker

Colaptes auratus

Evening Grosbeak

Hesperiphona vespertina

Belted Kingfisher

Megaceryle alcyon

Blue-winged Teal

Spatula discors

Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipes

Black-backed Woodpecker

Picoides arcticus

Northern Waterthrush

Parkesia noveboracensis

Zenaida macroura

Northern Harrier

Circus hudsonius

Broad-winged Hawk

Buteo platypterus

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Boreal Chickadee

Poecile hudsonicus

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Corthylio calendula

Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Regulus satrapa

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

Wilson's Warbler

Cardellina pusilla

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus

Charadrius vociferus

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Calidris pusilla

Coragyps atratus

Northern Gannet

American Herring Gull

Larus smithsonianus

Bonasa umbellus

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

Larus glaucoides

American Tree Sparrow

Spizelloides arborea

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

Troglodytes hiemalis

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta canadensis

Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

Melospiza georgiana

Branta canadensis

Common Goldeneye

Bucephala clangula

Common Merganser

Mergus merganser

Ring-necked Duck

Aythya collaris

Barrow's Goldeneye

Bucephala islandica

White-winged Scoter

Melanitta deglandi

Melanitta perspicillata

Pluvialis squatarola

Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

Red-throated Loon

Tennessee Warbler

Leiothlypis peregrina

American Yellow Warbler

Setophaga aestiva

Catharus fuscescens

American Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Catharus guttatus

Setophaga coronata

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Spizella passerina

Sayornis phoebe

Mangrove Warbler

Setophaga petechia

Great Black-backed Gull

Black Guillemot

Vireo olivaceus

Eremophila alpestris

Dumetella carolinensis

Bonaparte's Gull

Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Bombycilla cedrorum

Savannah Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensis

Pandion haliaetus

Black-legged Kittiwake

Rissa tridactyla

White-throated Sparrow

Zonotrichia albicollis

Swainson's Thrush

Catharus ustulatus

Black-throated Green Warbler

Setophaga virens

Black-and-white Warbler

Mniotilta varia

Northern Parula

Setophaga americana

Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitaria

Turdus migratorius

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularius

Alder Flycatcher

Empidonax alnorum

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

Riparia riparia

Semipalmated Plover

Charadrius semipalmatus

Least Sandpiper

Calidris minutilla

Falco columbarius

Common Yellowthroat

Geothlypis trichas

Magnolia Warbler

Setophaga magnolia

Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus

Blue-headed Vireo

Vireo solitarius

Blackburnian Warbler

Setophaga fusca

Long-tailed Duck

Clangula hyemalis

Melanitta americana

Branta bernicla

Red-winged Blackbird

Agelaius phoeniceus

Bay-breasted Warbler

Setophaga castanea

Blackpoll Warbler

Setophaga striata

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter striatus

Cape May Warbler

Setophaga tigrina

Cyanocitta cristata

Quiscalus quiscula

Calidris alpina

Plectrophenax nivalis

Tachycineta bicolor

Hooded Merganser

Lophodytes cucullatus

Hudsonian Whimbrel

Numenius hudsonicus

Anthus rubescens

Two-barred Crossbill

Loxia leucoptera

Seiurus aurocapilla

Setophaga palmarum

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

Polioptila caerulea

Somateria spectabilis

Larus hyperboreus

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Empidonax flaviventris

Tropical Kingbird

Tyrannus melancholicus

Philadelphia Vireo

Vireo philadelphicus

Orange-crowned Warbler

Leiothlypis celata

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Setophaga pensylvanica

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Setophaga caerulescens

Spiza americana

Anser caerulescens

Pink-footed Goose

Anser brachyrhynchus

Northern Shoveler

Spatula clypeata

Mareca strepera

Eurasian Wigeon

Mareca penelope

American Wigeon

Mareca americana

Northern Pintail

Bucephala albeola

Oxyura jamaicensis

Canachites canadensis

Common Nighthawk

Chordeiles minor

Chaetura pelagica

Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythropthalmus

Rallus limicola

Porzana carolina

Fulica americana

Antigone canadensis

Pied-billed Grebe

Podilymbus podiceps

Red-necked Grebe

Podiceps grisegena

Podiceps auritus

American Golden Plover

Pluvialis dominica

Upland Sandpiper

Bartramia longicauda

Hudsonian Godwit

Limosa haemastica

Short-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus griseus

American Woodcock

Gallinago delicata

Wilson's Phalarope

Phalaropus tricolor

Red-necked Phalarope

Phalaropus lobatus

Tringa semipalmata

Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Calidris canutus

Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritima

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii

White-rumped Sandpiper

Calidris fuscicollis

Pectoral Sandpiper

Calidris melanotos

Hydroprogne caspia

Sterna paradisaea

Franklin's Gull

Leucophaeus pipixcan

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Parasitic Jaeger

Stercorarius parasiticus

Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinus

Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

Thick-billed Murre

Wilson's Storm Petrel

Oceanites oceanicus

Leach's Storm Petrel

Hydrobates leucorhous

Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis

Manx Shearwater

Puffinus puffinus

American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosus

Black-crowned Night Heron

Nycticorax nycticorax

Aquila chrysaetos

Swainson's Hawk

Buteo swainsoni

Rough-legged Buzzard

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Aegolius acadicus

Athene cunicularia

Short-eared Owl

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Melanerpes carolinus

American Three-toed Woodpecker

Picoides dorsalis

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Contopus cooperi

Eastern Wood Pewee

Contopus virens

Willow Flycatcher

Empidonax traillii

Eastern Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

Eastern Warbling Vireo

Northern Shrike

Lanius borealis

Perisoreus canadensis

Bohemian Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulus

Hirundo rustica

Thryothorus ludovicianus

Northern House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

Certhia americana

Northern Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottos

Toxostoma rufum

Eastern Bluebird

Hylocichla mustelina

Grey-cheeked Thrush

Catharus minimus

Bicknell's Thrush

Catharus bicknelli

Northern Wheatear

Oenanthe oenanthe

Passer domesticus

Haemorhous mexicanus

Acanthis flammea

Loxia curvirostra

Lapland Longspur

Calcarius lapponicus

Chondestes grammacus

Clay-colored Sparrow

Spizella pallida

Spizella pusilla

Red Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca

Pooecetes gramineus

Nelson's Sparrow

Ammospiza nelsoni

Lincoln's Sparrow

Melospiza lincolnii

Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Yellow-breasted Chat

Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Western Meadowlark

Sturnella neglecta

Baltimore Oriole

Icterus galbula

Icterus spurius

Brown-headed Cowbird

Nashville Warbler

Leiothlypis ruficapilla

Mourning Warbler

Geothlypis philadelphia

Setophaga pinus

Cardellina canadensis

Scarlet Tanager

Piranga olivacea

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Pheucticus ludovicianus

Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

Passerina cyanea

Painted Bunting

Passerina ciris

Common Gallinule

Gallinula galeata

Eurasian Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus

Cistothorus palustris

North American Beaver

Castor canadensis

American Black Bear

Ursus americanus

North American Porcupine

Erethizon dorsatum

North American Red Squirrel

Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Eastern Chipmunk

Tamias striatus

Lepus americanus

Ondatra zibethicus

Pagophilus groenlandicus

Halichoerus grypus

Common Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

Balaenoptera physalus

White-tailed Deer

Odocoileus virginianus

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