Top Birding Locations

Top Birding Locations
It seems as though birds are in constant motion, migrating north and south, flying from nesting locations to feeding sites, searching for food, searching for mates, nesting, caring for young, and chasing competitors and predators. Some birders seem to be in constant motion, too, but that makes sense. There are a lot of birds to see, and it is exciting to visit different birding hotspots during the prime times of the year when vast flocks of a variety of species can be observed and photographed.

Plan to visit as many of these prime birding locations and check off the number of species you see, write about your favorite experiences and document as many sightings as possible with photographs. We hope this list of the top birding hotspots in North America will inspire every birder to seek out new birding experiences at different, exciting locations across the country.

1. South Florida
The complex of birding hotspots protected in southern Florida is unrivaled for birding opportunities in North America. From the Gulf Coast island of Sanibel, where the legendary Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge attracts millions of visitors, you can continue a true birding odyssey to Corkscrew Swamp, and on to the Everglades.

In these subtropical wetlands, you will encounter a variety of wading birds, including Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks, White Ibis, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, plus Anhingas, Pileated Woodpeckers, Ospreys and Red-shouldered Hawks. In the Everglades, endangered Snail Kites can be seen flying and hovering as they search for apple snails, and when you get to saltwater coastal marshes, watch for white-morph Great Blue Herons. During spring and summer, enjoy looks at American Swallow-tailed Kites.

Winter and spring are favorite birding seasons in southern Florida; prime time is probably March, when the birds are in full breeding plumage, and you can witness a number of species nesting. As birding locations go, Sanibel's refuge is hard to beat for numbers and variety of birds, as well as the chance to get close to them for photography (remember to take lots of film). However, expect to be in the company of crowds of people, especially along the main road.

Corkscrew Swamp provides great opportunities to see and photograph nesting Wood Storks, and you have good chances of getting close looks at Barred Owls, Pileated Woodpeckers and Limpkins. Highlights in the Everglades include the Tamiami Trail, Shark Valley, Paurotis Pond, and the photographic gem of the Everglades, Mrazek Pond, where wading birds appear to totally disregard the assortment of tourists and photographers who funnel by its west shore.

2. Cape May, New Jersey
Another renowned birding complex of American birding hotspots consists of a series of coastal woods and marshes along the southeastern tip of New Jersey, between the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay. During spring and fall, waves of songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, waterfowl and seabirds migrate by some days, and single species counts can number in the hundreds of thousands during a good morning! More than 400 species have been recorded at this rare bird magnet, and birders can find more than 120 species on a good migration day, including more than 30 species of warblers and 14 species of birds of prey. Famous birding locations like Cape May Meadows, Higbee Beach and Cape May State Park -- site of the official raptor watch -- are located on the southernmost peninsula of New Jersey.

Reeds Beach, known for its shorebird and gull concentrations, is a "must-see" location during mid-May. Nearby, birders are beginning to explore Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, one of the newest refuges in the United States. Belleplain State Forest is a favorite location to find migrant and nesting songbirds, including a wonderful variety of warblers, vireos, flycatchers, orioles and tanagers. Just north of Atlantic City is another tourist hotspot -- Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge -- where birders enjoy year-round concentrations of birds, although spring, fall and winter stand out most. Wintering flocks of Snow Geese, Brant, Canada Geese, a variety of ducks and Tundra Swans are seen during the winter; while spring and fall are heralded by expansive flocks of shorebirds, plus gulls, terns, wading birds and songbirds.

3. Southeast Arizona
Some of the most fabled birding locations in the Old West region, including the old cowboy towns of Tombstone and Tucson, are found in southeast Arizona. Among the mountains of the Santa Ritas, Chiricahuas and Huachucas, such prime birding canyons have been discovered as Ramsey, Madera, Cave Creek and Guadalupe Canyons. In these borderlands, birders search for birds most often encountered south of our border with Mexico.

Hummingbirds are a prime example of the species that are attracted to this oasis from their normal range farther south in Mexico and Central America. Magnificent Hummingbirds, Blue-throated, Broad-billed, Berylline, Violetcrowned and White-eared Hummingbirds are all known as rare visitors to feeding stations and mountain flowers. Late summer is the best time for hummingbirding, when the Mexican species are joined by early migrating North American nesters, such as Broad-tailed, Rufous, Black-chinned and Anna's Hummingbirds.

Most birders begin their borderland tour at Tucson, where Gambel's Quail, Costa's Hummingbirds, Gilded Flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Harris' Hawks and Phainopeplas are common in the adjacent Sonoran Desert. South of Continental, Madera Canyon is a favorite birding site for Yellow-eyed Juncos, Elf Owls, Flammulated Owls, Zone-tailed Hawks, Elegant Trogons, Painted Redstarts, Hepatic Tanagers, Strickland's Woodpeckers and other birds. Up to 14 species of hummingbirds can be seen at the feeders at Santa Rita Lodge in the heart of this top birding canyon. Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve near the town of Patagonia attracts birders to search for Gray Hawks, Vermilion Flycatchers, Lucy's Warblers, Bridled Titmice and Abert's Towhees. The San Pedro Riparian Area sometimes attracts Green Kingfishers, Tropical Kingbirds and Gray Hawks.

Close to the town of Sierra Vista, Ramsey Canyon yields sightings of such rarities as Red-faced Warblers, Virginia's Warblers and Botteri's Sparrows, along with good looks at rare Blue-throated, Magnificent and Broad-billed Hummingbirds among others at the feeders at Ramsey Canyon Preserve. Near Portal, Cave Creek Canyon is a favorite hotspot where you can search for Elegant Trogons, Painted Redstarts, Hepatic Tanagers, Zone-tailed Hawks, Strickland's Woodpeckers, Flammulated Owls and Whiskered Screech Owls. At the very southeastern tip of Arizona, where the state's border meets Mexico and New Mexico, Guadalupe Canyon can offer such rare species as Varied Buntings, Crissal Thrashers, Thick-billed Kingbirds and Northern Beardless Tyrannulets.

Most of the species listed above are the real rarities that can be encountered at only a few other locations in the United States, however, there are many more interesting birds to see in this area of many habitats and fantastic landscapes. No wonder birders hold southeast Arizona in such high regard!

4. Upper Texas Coast
By now you are probably used to the idea of "birding complexes," and few can compare to the region from High Island to Rockport along the Texas Coast. Concentrations of wintering birds can be found at Aransas, Anahuac and Brazoria National Wildlife Refuges. Aransas is best known as the wintering location of the migratory flock of endangered Whooping Cranes, which now number about 155. Your best chances of seeing Whoopers at close range is to take a boat trip through the intercoastal waterway through the refuge. Wading birds are common, including Reddish Egrets, and the refuge list has almost 400 species of birds on it!

Anahuac refuge, located southeast of Houston, is known for its diversity of rails and wading birds, but wintering Snow Geese and ducks provide the most dramatic observations. Southwest of Houston, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge also provides a Snow Goose spectacle during winter, along with flocks of Sandhill Cranes, many ducks like Mottled Ducks, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Brown Pelicans and wading birds, including Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets and Wood Storks.

Thoughts of spring automatically bring High Island to mind, and if you are lucky, weather conditions will provide a migration fallout, and you will be treated to an amazing scene as warblers, buntings, tanagers, orioles, vireos, grosbeaks and other birds literally rain down on the trees of Smith Woods and Boy Scout Woods. Bolivar Peninsula, near Galveston, is also a good location to check for migrants, especially shorebirds, gulls, terns and birds of prey.

September is a big month in the Rockport-Fulton area, when thousands of birders attend the annual Hummer-Bird Festival. Nearby, Corpus Christi has one of the best hawkwatch locations in North America, where more than 300,000 Broad-winged Hawks are counted during fall migration, along with a variety of other raptors. Before you head for Texas, get information about the Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which now includes more than 100 birding locations. Air travel to the area is easiest via Houston, but Corpus Christi or San Antonio are other options.

5. Point Pelee, Ontario
Without question, Point Pelee is the most popular Canadian birding hotspot, and this small national park rivals any single American birding locale. Some days during spring and fall, the entire national park seems to be in motion with birds and birders working their way across the peninsula that funnels migrating birds to this central point on the north end of Lake Erie. Only about 40 miles from Detroit, Michigan, the attraction of Point Pelee is a 12-mile-long, V-shaped peninsula that birds follow before and after crossing the lake during migration.

Point Pelee offers great opportunities to see an abundance and variety of migrating songbirds, waterfowl, gulls, terns, raptors, shorebirds and waterbirds. March and April bring exciting numbers of migrating waterfowl, including Tundra Swans, geese and ducks, to the park. During April, all species begin to migrate through in good numbers, but spring migration does not peak until mid-May, when the numbers and diversity of warblers, vireos, thrushes, flycatchers and other passerines is greatest. It seems that during the middle of May, you can find any bird that ranges east of the Rocky Mountains. More than 42 species of warblers have been sighted at Point Pelee, but be ready for the crowds of birders who come to search them out during this exciting time of the year.

Fall migration may be even more spectacular at Point Pelee. Beginning the last two weeks of August and the first week of September, the southern part of the park literally teems with warblers, vireos, flycatchers and other passerine groups. By mid-September, birds of prey tend to dominate the airways, and as a result, most passerines become more secretive. Blue Jays are an obvious exception and may fill the sky by the thousands. October and November migrations are fueled by cold fronts that trigger migrations of vultures, raptors, waterfowl, gulls, owls, chickadees, sparrows and finches. Significant migrations of waterfowl and gulls continue until freeze-up in December, and eagles are most often seen from late October to early December.

Known best for fall migrations of birds of prey, Holiday Beach is only 25 miles west of Point Pelee and offers birders another rich location to search for migrating birds. About 100,000 birds of prey are tallied at Holiday Beach each fall, but 650,000 other birds are also counted, lending credence to the fact that raptors aren't the only birds funneling through. The big attraction is the Hawk Tower, where 154,000 Blue Jays were counted migrating in one day!

6. Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Along the Mexican border, birders can find a group of birds which could be labeled Mexican immigrants that have hopped the border and are rarely seen anywhere to the north. Green Jays, Altamira and Audubon's Orioles, Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, Ringed and Green Kingfishers, Plain Chachalacas, Masked Ducks, Least Grebes, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Great Kiskadees, Brown Jays, White-tipped Doves, Red-billed Pigeons, Olive Sparrows, Hook-billed Kites and more lure birders to such notable birding locations as Santa Ana and Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuges, Bentsen State Park, Falcon State Park, Sabal Palm Grove Sanctuary and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, near the cities of McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville.

In addition to the species rarely found north of the valley, rare birds are found every year by birders who do detective-like surveys of popular locations. While you search for the Mexican rarities that attract birders to the Valley, you will enjoy seeing such species as Harris' Hawks, Inca Doves, Common Ground Doves, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Lesser Nighthawks, Bronzed Cowbirds, Neotropical Cormorants, Fulvous Whistling Ducks, Mottled Ducks, Long-billed Thrashers, Sage Thrashers, Wood Storks, Elf Owls and Ferruginous Pygmy Owls.

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is actually north of the valley, and a visit there, especially during winter, will provide more variety to your trip to the southern tip of Texas, with many wading birds, shorebirds and waterfowl present. Over half of the entire population of Redheads can be seen with a spotting scope at Laguna Madre where they winter, along with Canvasbacks, Ruddy Ducks and a variety of others. Check agricultural fields for Snow, White-fronted and Canada Geese, plus Sandhill Cranes. Other species of special interest include Groove-billed Anis, Vermilion Flycatchers, Greater Roadrunners, Reddish Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills. Aplomado Falcons are being reintroduced in this refuge and can be sighted.

7. Churchill, Manitoba
The most popular of all Canadian summer birding destinations Churchill area offers birders a diversity of species where the tundra and boreal forest merge near the Churchill River and Hudson Bay. In the open tundra, watch for nesting Lapland and Smith's Longspurs, American Golden Plovers, Stilt Sandpipers, Whimbrels, Hudsonian Godwits, plus Parasitic Jaegers in wet tundra areas. Tundra ponds attract Common Eiders, all three scoters, Oldsquaws and a variety of other ducks, while Pacific Loons, Tundra Swans and Arctic Terns are often seen in deeper lakes. Ross' Gulls are a particularly sought-after species that have been recorded nesting in the area in recent years.

Where the tundra blends to willows and spruce forest, you can find Willow Ptarmigan, Bonaparte's Gulls, Wilson's Warblers, Harris' Sparrows, Common Redpolls and maybe a Merlin. When you explore the spruce forest, Gray Jays and American Ravens will be common, but Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadees, Gray-cheeked Thrushes, Bohemian Waxwings and Northern Shrikes are harder to find.

June is the best time to visit Churchill, but if you want to see rarer early migrants, consider the last week in May. July is almost as good as June. Churchill is also known for its Beluga whale watching from mid-June through August, and polar bears are the attraction during late fall.

8. Kidder County, North Dakota
One of the least known of the great birding locations, Kidder County is representative of where east meets west in the Great Plains. There, in the heart of the Prairie Pothole Region, birders can revel in the open range of Dakota and observe nesting ducks, including one million Blue-winged Teal, other dabbling ducks, Canvasbacks, Redheads and Lesser Scaup, along with shorebirds, raptors and grassland songbirds. See the largest nesting colony of American White Pelicans north of Crystal Springs at Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The largest populations of nesting Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks have been documented in Kidder County, and Burrowing Owls are commonly found where grasslands have been cropped short.

Other prairie nesting birds include an abundance of native sparrows -- Baird's, Grasshopper, LeConte's, Clay-colored and Vesper Sparrows -- plus Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Lark Buntings, Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Bobolinks, Sharp-tailed Grouse and Upland Sandpipers. You will also commonly see American Avocets, Wilson's Phalaropes, Marbled Godwits, Western and Eared Grebes, Franklin's Gulls and Black Terns among more common species.

Some of the largest fall concentrations of Sandhill Cranes in the nation assemble in the Horsehead and Kunkel Lake area, south of Robinson and north of Dawson and Tappen. Tundra Swans stopover at the abundance of wetlands during migration, especially during fall, as do Snow, White-fronted and Canada Geese, and many ducks, including Canvasbacks. As winter closes in, Snow Buntings become as common as Horned Larks. Watch for Snowy Owls and Rough-legged Hawks.

9. Pribilof Islands, Alaska
Cliffs filled with nesting colonies of hundreds of thousands of seabirds attract birders to the Bering Sea Islands known as the Pribilofs where you can see Tufted and Horned Puffins, Crested Auklets, Parakeet and Least Auklets, Common and Thick-billed Murres, Red-legged and Black-legged Kittiwakes, Pelagic and Red-faced Cormorants, Northern Fulmars and everpresent Glaucous Gulls. The best bet for successful photography is to position yourself where a cliff face is separated by a narrow crevice so you can photograph birds across the ledge using a telephoto lens.

Attractive McKay's Buntings join Snow Buntings on the Pribilofs' rocky tundra areas, along with Gray-crowned Rosy Finches. Shorebirds include Bar-tailed Godwits, Rock Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalaropes and rare Bristle-thighed Curlews. Exciting seaducks to look for include Harlequin Ducks, Oldsquaws and scoters. Common Elders can be found regularly, but also watch for Spectacled, King and Steller's Eiders. Considering the close proximity of these islands to Siberia, the opportunities to find a vagrant seabird, passerine or shorebird from Asia is very likely. Get accustomed to checking every bird you see during your stay, just in case a rarity presents itself.

10. Klamath Basin
Below the majestic snow-covered peak of Mount Shasta, huge flocks of geese and ducks attract impressive numbers of Bald Eagles and other raptors, which provide exciting observations and photo opportunities for birders who need a lift from the winter blahs along the border of California and Oregon. Most birders head directly to Tule Lake and Lower Klamath refuges to see the concentrations of geese, ducks and scattered birds of prey. Check the huge flocks of Snow Geese for smaller Ross' Geese, and try to separate White-fronted Geese from the Canada Geese they resemble in poor light or at a distance. Up to 15 species of ducks can be tallied, and Bald Eagles, Northern Harriers, Red-tails and Rough-legged Hawks are the most abundant raptors.

Besides these species, variety is the key to birding the Klamath Basin refuge complex, which provides diverse options to explore. Exciting sightings can range from a Bald Eagle winter roosting site at Bear Valley NWR, where 200 to 300 Bald Eagles can be seen during January and February mornings; to Sage Grouse at Clear Lake NWR; Blue Grouse, Northern Goshawks and other forest birds at Klamath Marsh NWR; and endangered Spotted Owls, Mountain Quail and a variety of woodpeckers at Upper Klamath NWR.

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