Learn all About Birds at These Top Bird Watching Tours in the South

The American South offers a unique experience for bird watchers to learn all about birds. The region marks the southern limit for temperate-zone birds and the northern limit for semi-tropical birds, giving birders the chance to see a wide diversity of species on these bird watching tours.

False Cape State Park: Virginia Beach, VA
False Cape State Park is simply a birder's paradise. This area is considered one of the last relatively undisturbed coastlines on the East Coast and has an abundance of wildlife including some 54 rare and endangered species. The park hosts an interesting assemblage of migrating and nesting songbirds, waterfowl and shorebirds that visit the park's diverse habitats throughout the year. The crashing waves with their salt spray, squalling seabirds and coastal winds allow visitors to experience the ocean with all their senses. Numerous seashells, fossils, and driftwood line the shore making for a beach walk full of new discoveries. Special programs on the beach, including tours using the Terragator, a special vehicle designed to reduce dune impact, are available for a fee in season. Birders should bring plenty of water, wear comfortable shoes and hats and apply sunscreen and insect repellant. There is no vehicular access to the park. Access is granted through a five-mile hike/bike only road through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge or by special tram tour.

First Landing State Park: Virginia Beach, VA
First Landing State Park features beach, back dunes, upland forest, tidal marsh and cypress swamp. It is home to one of the most endangered habitat types in the world, the maritime forest community. The habitat serves as the farthest northern limit for many semi-tropical species, and the southern limit for many temperate-zone species. During migrations, especially in late April and early May, there can be lovely sighting of neo-tropical migratory birds. In the winter, feeding flocks of chickadees, titmice, and warblers, including the uncommon orange-crowned warbler and the blue-headed vireo can be seen. Nesting species include many warblers, songbirds and several species of woodpecker. From mid March to early June, various research projects, including warbler counts and songbird banding, are open to the public.  Near the 64th Street/Narrow area, visitors can see elusive pileated woodpeckers, osprey and an occasional eagle.  The park is open year-round, and birders are encouraged to visit in the late fall and early spring when the dense leaf is cleared for prime bird watching.

Hungry Mother State Park: Marion, VA
Lakefront real estate, wooded lots, streams running through the property: It's where birds want to live or visit during their trips north or south. Location, location: It's at Hungry Mother State Park, and the birds have found it.  If you are an avid birder or are looking for an interesting new pastime, check out these birding habitats.
The 2200 acre park encompasses a variety of habitats that attract a constant assortment of birds. Hungry Mother includes deciduous hardwood forest, rhododendron and laurel thickets, hemlock ravines, old fields and wetlands.  These various birding habitats are accessible on the 12 miles of trails which surround the 108 acre lake. In spring and fall, warblers are plentiful in the oak and hickory canopy along with other neo-tropical migrants. The lake attracts a large number of waterfowl.

Huntington Beach State Park: Murrells Inlet, SC
Perhaps the best known students of wildlife at Huntington Beach State Park are the birders who for years have been coming to see some of the more than 300 species that have been recorded there.  A wide array of birds including herons, egrets, and ospreys can be found at Huntington Beach.
The park's freshwater lagoon, salt marsh, maritime forest and beach are outstanding examples of the state's natural coastal environment. These also provide such prime habitat for birds that the park is widely recognized as one of the best birding sites along the East Coast.

Kiptopeke State Park: Cape Charles, VA
Since the early 1960s, neo-tropical songbirds have been banded at Kiptopeke State Park as part of the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory. It's one of the longest running migratory banding stations in eastern North America. A raptor banding station is also in operation at the park during migrations. The annual hawk watch counts more than 70,000 raptors.With four miles of trails nestled next to the Chesapeake Bay, the scenic trails of Kiptopeke State Park offer opportunities for birders of all ages and abilities. The beach area is marked by a series of partially submerged aged concrete ships that sit just off the shoreline. These old hulks provide nesting habitat for gulls, pelicans and other water birds. Without question, this is one of the finest sites in the Americas to view migrating birds of prey, especially from a handicap accessible elevated platform. Songbird migrations in spring and fall also produce large numbers of wood warblers and the total species list for the park exceeds 300 birds. The park is a venue for the annual Eastern Shore Birding Festival and offers a variety of educational programs and opportunities to participate in songbird banding activities. Camping, boating and RVs are all allowed at the park.

Myakka River State Park: Sarasota, FL
Florida's Mykakka River twines through a mosaic of pinelands, prairies, and shady hammocks, bejeweled by thousands of assorted wetlands. Add two sand-bottomed shallow lakes and the mixture of habitats is a perfect recipe for diverse birdlife.

Watch eagles, ospreys, wading birds and shorebirds from the seven mile scenic drive along the lakeshore or through a spotting scope set up at the bird walk and assisted by experienced birders six days a week. Beginning birding classes are held for those who want to learn birding basics. To hone your birding skills, take a tour on the Upper Lake on the Gator Gal or Myakka Maiden, billed as the world's biggest airboats.
Look for warblers, flycatchers and owls on a walkway through the treetops or look down on hawks and kites from atop a 74-foot-high tower. Take a walk on the 39 mile hiking trail to seek out shy inhabitants that prefer vast expanses of uninterrupted wilderness.

The park's bird list boasts over 250 species of birds with nearly a hundred listed as commonly seen. Every year, the Christmas day bird count logs more than 100 species. Access, scenic beauty and diversity of habitats make Myakka River State Park one of our country's best destinations for bird watching.

Smith Mountain Lake State Park: Huddleston, VA
Smith Mountain Lake State Park is located in the area of Southwest Virginia where the Piedmont and mountain regions meet. This makes for beautiful mountain views and spectacular rolling ridgelines.

The park's location on the second largest freshwater lake in Virginia along with its 1200 acres of pristine woodlands makes Smith Mountain Lake State Park an ideal bird watching destination. Bird watching is so good at the park that two special facilities have been created to meet the needs of the many bird watchers.

The first project is a wildlife observation blind located at the edge of small clearing within a heavy forested area. The other project gives visitors the opportunity to watch the life cycle of osprey from a unique perspective. The park has established a nest on a pole 20 feet in the air out on a small peninsula behind the visitor center.

Though no one is allowed within 100 yards, visitors are brought into the lives of the osprey by means of a live TV feed. A camera has been placed a few feet above the nest so that visitors can watch the nesting pair and their offspring, from laying the eggs through first flight. A person can walk behind the visitor center and watch the osprey dive for fish in the lake, carrying his catch back to the nest. Then back in the visitor center, they can see the osprey feeding the baby via the "osprey cam." This is truly a unique bird watching opportunity.

St.Joseph Peninsula State Park: Port St. Joe, FL
Saint Joseph Peninsula State Park is one of the exceptional locations for birding.  Fall brings the annual migration of raptors to the park.  Accipiter, Chondrohierax, Buteo and Falco use the peninsula as fly over point as they head to Mexico and South America for the winter.  The American kestrel can be spotted flying low over the dunes, and Peregrine falcons are seen resting on the dune systems.  Bald eagles and ospreys can be seen resting in the tall pines along main park drive. 

Winter brings the common and red throat loons to the shore of St. Joseph Bay. Spring brings many verities of neo-tropical into the park. Buntings, tanagers, martins and vireos are just a few of the hundreds of birds that migrate back to northern climates for the summer. Year round residents include cardinals, kingfishers and many species of woodpeckers, warblers, sparrows, thrashers and finches. The marshes provide food and shelter for several species of heron and egrets, including the snowy egret and great blue heron. The pristine beach allows the avid birder to observe pelicans, terns, seagulls, sandpipers, black skimmers and several species of plover. Snowy plovers, least terns and black skimmers often nest on the beach during the summer months. St. Joseph Peninsula State Park is a birding paradise, providing ample opportunities of amateur and professional birders alike.

Staunton River State Park-Scottsburg, VA
Staunton River State Park is one of the six original Virginia State Parks that opened in June of 1936. It is located on 2,400 acres along Kerr Reservoir and the Dan and Staunton Rivers. Over one hundred different species of birds can be found living in or migrating through the park.

A wide variety of birds, including upland birds, shorebirds, gulls, terns, egrets and herons, make the park an excellent bird watching site. The typical southern forest, managed pine forest, wildlife enhancement areas and open fields of the park offer many types of habitats that are attractive and beneficial to birds of all kinds. Red-headed woodpeckers and rare pileated woodpeckers, thrive in the pine forest where they are often seen feeding. The Captain Staunton's Trail is a popular bird-watching area with mature hardwoods providing a suitable habitat for a variety of songbirds. The transitional wetland area along the Staunton River offers an ideal spot for viewing waterfowl as well as large wading birds, such as egrets and herons.

Rare and uncommon species of birds that have been sighted at the park include the American white pelican, tundra swan, American avocet, Wilson's phalarope, white- rump sandpiper, yellow-crowned night-heron, little blue heron, tri-colored heron and prothonotary warblers (which actually breed in the park).

Staunton River State Park's shorelines and woods offer something for each season of the year, for every type of bird and birdwatcher. You can pick up a bird checklist when you visit the park office.

York River State Park-Williamsburg, VA
As part of the Coastal Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, the 2,505 acres of York River State Park offer upland forests, cypress swamps, riparian thickets, marshy creeks, brackish inlets, ponds and open fields.  Birders have been known to record 50 or more species in a morning's outing. The Taskinas Creek Trail offers a glimpse at the greatest diversity of habitats including estuaries, bottomland marsh and hardwoods and mixed deciduous and pine forests. From the creek overlook, birders will get excellent photographs of egret, heron and osprey.  Occasionally, eagles nesting nearby take magnificent flight across the river in search of prey.  The upland forest area accessible by hiking trails features a variety of habitats for migratory songbirds and year-round species.  Special night hikes and moonlight canoe programs allow birders night time access to the day-use only park and the nocturnal owl species that inhabit the area.  Special interpretive programs are available seasonally.  Canoes, kayaks and paddle boats are available for rent in the park for a unique birding perspective.