Oahe Dam can offer excellent birding in late fall and winter for Black-legged Kittiwake, Sabine's Gull, Glaucous Gull and other rarities including Parasitic and Pomerine Jaegers, and Yellow-billed Loon. Expect to see lots of Bonaparte's and Ring-billed Gulls, Common, Hooded, and Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and the usual cast of puddle ducks, too. The tower on top of the dam is home to a pair of Barn Owls and the surrounding hills are also good places to see Burrowing Owls, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Gyrfalcons, Ferruginous Hawks, Golden Eagles, and other hawks in winter while the surrounding woodlands can be productive for neotropical migrants during migration.