The Wild Wings Festival, a celebration of the annual bird migration at and around Freezout Lake south of Choteau, will be March 20 - 22, 2026.
Video from Thursday, March 19, 2026:
Every year, hundreds of thousands of geese, swans, and other waterfowl migrate through the region on their way to the arctic tundra.
A large concentration stop at Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area in Choteau, providing a few weeks of phenomenal birding in March.
Video from February 2025:
Here is the Wild Wings Festival schedule for 2026:
Friday March 20
2:00-3:00PM: Wildlife Photography For All Workshop. Learn from photographer Talia Azadian on how to get the best photos with the gear you have - whether it’s a phone camera or full camera set. Free at the Choteau Pavilion
4:00-6:30PM: Meet and Greet. Food trucks - El Taco Valle and Jammers BBQ - providing dinner and Choteau American Legion with beverages for purchase. Educational booths from Montana and nationally based wildlife conservation organizations.
7:00PM: ‘Flight of the Swans’ Film. A female conservationist takes to the skies in a paramotor to follow Bewick’s Swans on their annual migration in a bid to understand their dramatic decline; 7,000 kilometers, 11 countries, from Russia to England across tundra, forests, and industrial landscapes, where she encounters people just as passionate about saving and protecting these birds and their wetland homes. Narrated by Academy Award nominee Sophie Okonedo. Shown at the historic Roxy Theatre (25 Main Ave. N).
Saturday March 21
6:30-10:30AM: Free guided tours of Freezout Lake WMA and vicinity targeting light geese activity in the area. Meet at Choteau Pavilion parking lot for van carpool and caravan options. Van space is limited. Please sign up in person at the event registration table Friday afternoon. Anyone is welcome to caravan behind the vans from the pavilion.
10:30AM-5:00PM: Educational booths with Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, Ducks Unlimited, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance, Montana Audubon, Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Montana Dinosaur Center, Montana Discovery Foundation, Montana Wetlands & Waterfowl, Montana WILD, National Wildlife Federation, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Front Weed Roundtable, Sun River Watershed Group, and Teton Conservation District.
1:00-2:00PM: Join Rob Domenech, Executive Director of Raptor View Research Institute (RVRI), for a presentation that will include a brief history of RVRI’s long-term Golden Eagle (GOEA) research (when it started and why), blood heavy metals analysis (i.e., blood-lead levels) in GOEA sampled in west-central Montana, a summary of wing-tag encounters, and an overview of our satellite telemetry movements of GOEAs, with some standout stories of some satellite-tracked individuals.
2:00-3:00PM: Join Chris La Tray as he tells an Anishinaabe story about snow geese and the interconnected topic of migration of many relatives, human and older than human. Chris is a Métis storyteller, a descendant of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North and a citizen of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He writes the newsletter "An Irritable Métis" and lives near Frenchtown, Montana. www.chrislatray.com
3:00PM: Raffle - Great prizes from our sponsors! Vortex Binoculars, Red Ants Pants tickets and more! Must be present to win.
10AM-2PM: Choteau Arts Studio Spring Migration Show.
11AM - 1PM: Conservation Grains -- Hands-on flour milling demo, wildlife habitat and grain farming talk and wildlife photography display by Liz Jarvis - 21 2nd St NW, Choteau (around the corner from Choteau Arts).
5:30PM: Doors open for the Old Trail Museum Wild Game Potluck. Museum Fundraiser. Admission is a free will donation. This is a POTLUCK with game and non-game dishes, silent auction, live auction, and 50/50 drawing. Located at the Stage Stop Inn's Rocky Mountain Convention Center.
Sunday March 23
6:30-10:00AM: Free Guided tours of Freezout Lake WMA and vicinity targeting Light Geese activity in the area. Meet at Choteau Pavilion parking lot for van carpool and caravan options. Van space is limited. Please sign up in person at the event registration table Friday or Saturday afternoon. Anyone is welcome to caravan behind the van from the pavilion.
11:00AM-1:00PM: Optics Workshop -- Join Pete Young with Optics4Birding, an online optics business. He'll have some of the latest birding gear to show you and welcomes any questions you have about binoculars, spotting scopes, and everything in between!" At Pavilion. Free.
Noon-3:00PM: Montana Dinosaur Center (120 2nd Ave South, Bynum) open for visitors.
