The Moose River is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 river in the Hudson Plains

Hudson Plains

The Hudson Plains Ecozone is a sparsely populated Canadian subarctic ecozone extending from the western coast of Quebec to the coast of Manitoba, encompassing all coastal areas of James Bay and those of southern Hudson Bay, stretching to about 50°N latitude. It includes the largest continuous...

 ecozone

Ecozone

An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...

 of northern Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 which flows 100 km northeast from the junction of the Mattagami

Mattagami River

The Mattagami River is a river in the James Bay drainage basin in Cochrane District, Timiskaming District and Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada....

 and Missinaibi River

Missinaibi River

The Missinaibi River is a river in northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Missinaibi Lake, north of Chapleau, and empties into the Moose River, which drains into James Bay. This river is in length...

s into James Bay

James Bay

James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...

. Its drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 is 108,500 km² and it has a mean discharge rate of 1370 m³/s. Its full length is 547 kilometres (339.9 mi) if counted from the head of the Mattagami River.

This river formed part of the water route to Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

 in the days of the fur trade

North American Fur Trade

The North American fur trade was the industry and activities related to the acquisition, exchange, and sale of animal furs in the North American continent. Indigenous peoples of different regions traded among themselves in the Pre-Columbian Era, but Europeans participated in the trade beginning...

. Moose Factory

Moose Factory, Ontario

Moose Factory is a community in the Cochrane District, Ontario, Canada. It is on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, which is at the southern end of James Bay. It was the first English-speaking settlement in Ontario and the second Hudson's Bay Company post to be set up in North...

, located on Moose Factory Island

Moose Factory Island

Moose Factory Island is an island in the Moose River, Ontario, Canada, about from its mouth at James Bay. It is adjacent to the community of Moosonee across the Moose River, from which it is accessible by water taxi....

 near the river's mouth, was a fur trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 and Ontario's first English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 settlement. Moosonee, Ontario

Moosonee, Ontario

Moosonee is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered as "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port...

, on the north bank of the river, is the northern terminus of the Polar Bear Express

Polar Bear Express

The Polar Bear Express is a Canadian passenger train operated by the Ontario Northland Railway in Northern Ontario. Service was introduced in 1964...

 railway route which begins at Cochrane, Ontario

Cochrane, Ontario

Cochrane is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District...

.

Tributaries

The tributaries of this river include:

• Kwataboahegan River
• Cheepash River
• Abitibi River
  Abitibi River
  The Abitibi River is a river in northeastern Ontario, Canada, which flows northwest from Lake Abitibi to join the Moose River which empties into James Bay. This river is long.The river was an important fur trading route for the Hudson's Bay Company...
  
  
  • Frederick House River
    Frederick House River
    The Frederick House River is a river in the James Bay and Moose River drainage basins in Cochrane District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It flows from Night Hawk Lake in the city of Timmins to its mouth at the Abitibi River in Cochrane, Unorganized, North Part...
    
    
• Mattagami River
  Mattagami River
  The Mattagami River is a river in the James Bay drainage basin in Cochrane District, Timiskaming District and Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada....
  
  
  • Kapuskasing River
    Kapuskasing River
    The Kapuskasing River is a river in the James Bay drainage basin in Cochrane District and Algoma District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is a left tributary of the Mattagami River.-Course:...
    
    
    • Nemegosenda River
      • Chapleau River
  • Groundhog River
    Groundhog River
    The Groundhog River is a river in Cochrane District and Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is in the James Bay drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Mattagami River.-Course:...
    
    
    • Ivanhoe River
      Ivanhoe River
      The Ivanhoe River is a river in Cochrane District and Sudbury District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The river is in the James Bay drainage basin and is a left tributary of the Groundhog River.-Course:For a map showing the river course, see this reference....
      
      
    • Nat River
• Missinaibi River
  Missinaibi River
  The Missinaibi River is a river in northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Missinaibi Lake, north of Chapleau, and empties into the Moose River, which drains into James Bay. This river is in length...
  
  
  • Brunswick River
  • Fire River
  • Hay River
  • Mattawitchewan River
    • Albany Forks
      • Oba River, Oba Lake
  • Pivabiska River
  • Opasatika River
  • Soweska River

Moose River Bird Sanctuary

Moose River Bird Sanctuary lies at the mouth of the Moose River and comprises Ship Sands Island and a piece of land on the eastern flats of the river mouth. The 14.60 km² sanctuary is protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act

Migratory Birds Convention Act

The Migratory Birds Convention Act is a Canadian law established in 1917 and significantly updated in June 1994 which contains regulations to protect migratory birds, their eggs, and their nests from hunting, trafficking and commercialization...

 and is part of the Southern James Bay

Southern James Bay

Southern James Bay is a Canadian coastal wetland complex in northeastern Ontario bordering James Bay and Quebec. It was designated as a wetland of international importance via the Ramsar Convention on May 27, 1987...

 wetland complex, which was designated a wetland of international importance (Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...

) in May 1987.

This area plays a significant role in the annual cycle of waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

. The funnel-shaped outline of Hudson and James bays causes birds migrating from the Arctic to concentrate at the southern end of James Bay each autumn, particularly in the late autumn, where the extensive coastal wetlands provide critical staging and moulting areas for migrating Lesser Snow Geese

Snow Goose

The Snow Goose , also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed...

, dabbling ducks and shorebirds such as Red Knot

Red Knot

The Red Knot, Calidris canutus , is a medium sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the Great Knot...

, Short-billed Dowitcher

Short-billed Dowitcher

The Short-billed Dowitcher like its congener the Long-billed Dowitcher, is a medium-sized, stocky, long-billed shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is an inhabitant of North America, Middle America, and northern South America. It is strongly migratory; it completely vacates in breeding areas...

, Dunlin

Dunlin

The Dunlin, Calidris alpina, is a small wader, sometimes separated with the other "stints" in Erolia. It is a circumpolar breeder in Arctic or subarctic regions. Birds that breed in northern Europe and Asia are long-distance migrants, wintering south to Africa, southeast Asia and the Middle East...

, Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

The Greater Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca, is a large North American shorebird, similar in appearance to the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs. Its closest relative, however, is the Greenshank, which together with the Spotted Redshank form a close-knit group...

, Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

The Lesser Yellowlegs is a medium-sized shorebird similar in appearance to the larger Greater Yellowlegs. It is not closely related to this bird, however, but instead to the much larger and quite dissimilar Willet; merely the fine, clear and dense pattern of the neck shown in breeding plumage...

, Ruddy Turnstone

Turnstone

Turnstones are the bird species in the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini....

, and American Golden Plover

American Golden Plover

The American Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.Adults are spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Their face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black....

.

Settlement of Moose River

At mile 142 of the Polar Bear Express railway route there is a small settlement called Moose River. This settlement is just before a large railway bridge that crosses Moose River and is a flag stop on the Polar Bear Express rail route. There is an Ontario Northland Railway

Ontario Northland Railway

The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario....

bunkhouse that used to be a school. The Moose River bridge was built in the 1930s and the settlement was a much larger community at that time. Currently the Moose River stop at mile 142 is used for the residents of the settlement and as a pick-up and drop-off site for boaters.