Places to Bird in Georgia
This website contains volumes of information for finding and birding more than 200 locations in the state of Georgia. These range from roadside stops to the state's premier birding destinations. Each birding description contains detailed driving directions, information on how to bird the area at the best time of year, important bird species that may be encountered, and much more. Many locations feature full-color photographs to help you visualize your route. There are several convenient ways that you can browse the content of this website to find a place where you might enjoy the feathered friends that Georgia has to offer year-round:
1) Browse Georgia Birding LOCATIONS (by name) in Alphabetical Order
2) You can click on the specific COUNTY in the list below to jump directly to that county's birding description. Each county has its own individual web page for faster loading, especially if you have a slower connection.
3) Browse a whole REGION by clicking on the buttons around the map below; these are much larger pages and will take longer to load. However, they allow you to scroll through all of a region's counties in one place.
ALL locations refer to their page and grid coordinates in the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer (Example: [DeLorme pg. 29, A-7] = Page 29, Row A, Column 7); though the directions found here are usually very detailed and may have mileage measurements, a DeLorme Atlas is indispensable in visualizing your route, and may even show you a better way to get there from your starting point. Printing is much more reliable if you copy-paste the section you need into a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word, and then print the document; some users have reported that text may be cut off if you print directly from these web pages. IMPORTANT: it is not encouraged (and is even unlawful) to print "Wings Over Georgia" content, reproduce it, and distribute it without express written permission.
The birding descriptions, directions, and photos are a combination of personal accounts and contributions by members of the online ListServ GABO-L. Thanks to all those birders who share local birding sites with enough details for others to find them. In particular, I would like to thank a few folks for their help and encouragement with the website - Joshua Spence, Mark Freeman, Jared Fisher, Tom Striker, Jerry Amerson, Steve Barlow, Pierre Howard, Lois Stacey, Grant McCreary, Gene Keferl, Walt Chambers, Tim Keyes, Todd Womack, Dot Freeman, Brandon Best, Michael Turner, Phil Hardy, Bob and Deb Zaremba, Dan Vickers, Bill Lotz, and finally Jim Flynn and Earl Horn, whose extensive county birding has turned up many great sites across the state. Also, a special thanks to Giff Beaton for the efforts he makes in writing and editing some of the most useful volumes in our state's birding library. I would also like to thank The Georgia Ornithological Society , The Georgia Museum of Natural History, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the National Park Service for their various websites which have provided so much information... maps, links to resources, publications, species records, information about Georgia's physiographic regions, and so much more.
This website does not guarantee the accuracy of driving directions, and you should always err on the side of caution when following them. Be especially careful at sites that border private property, are along busy streets, etc. Always adhere to good birding ethics, be polite, and use common sense! Read a special advisory for tips on Birding Georgia's Sod Farms. I have created a very helpful legend of symbols below, which appear at the top of every birding location. This will help you plan your visit to many sites, but specific species are not always mentioned in relation to season and some prior knowledge will help. The definitive source for early and late dates, breeding status, and distribution is to get an Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds. You can purchase this book, Beaton's Birding Georgia, and many more helpful volumes at GOS Publications. If you are not a member of the Georgia Ornithological Society, I strongly encourage you to join this great organization. Along with organizing seasonal meetings featuring informative speakers and wonderful guided field trips, the mission of GOS is to encourage the scientific study of birds by gathering and disseminating information on Georgia bird life. GOS actively promotes bird conservation by encouraging the preservation of habitats that are vital to the survival of resident and migratory birds. The GOS also gives scholarships, produces scientific publications, and provides fellowship among those interested in nature.
If you are interested in birdwatching in Georgia, there are many print resources available to you. When you are out in the field, these books are arguably the first additions you might make to your birding tool kit:
A Field Identification Guide (Sibley, Peterson, etc.)
Georgia Atlas and Gazetteer; DeLorme
Birding Georgia, by Giff Beaton; Falcon Publishing
Annotated Checklist of Georgia Birds; GOS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: All photos and other content on this website are the exclusive property of Ken Blankenship (KB) and Rachel Cass (RC), unless otherwise credited. Unauthorized use and reproduction is strictly prohibited; you can usually obtain friendly permission to use images by sending me an email.
Click on a link to jump directly to a specific county;
Click your BACK button to return here:
Appling Cherokee Fayette Johnson Paulding Tift
Atkinson Clarke Floyd Jones Peach Toombs
Bacon Clay Forsyth Lamar Pickens Towns
Baker Clayton Franklin Lanier Pierce Treutlen
Baldwin Clinch Fulton Laurens Pike Troup
Banks Cobb Gilmer Lee Polk Turner
Barrow Coffee Glascock Liberty Pulaski Twiggs
Bartow Colquitt Glynn Lincoln Putnam Union
Ben Hill Columbia Gordon Long Quitman Upson
Berrien Cook Grady Lowndes Rabun Walker
Bibb Coweta Greene Lumpkin Randolph Walton
Bleckley Crawford Gwinnett Macon Richmond Ware
Brantley Crisp Habersham Madison Rockdale Warren
Brooks Dade Hall Marion Schley Washington
Bryan Dawson Hancock McDuffie Screven Wayne
Bulloch Decatur Haralson McIntosh Seminole Webster
Burke DeKalb Harris Meriwether Spalding Wheeler
Butts Dodge Hart Miller Stephens White
Calhoun Dooly Heard Mitchell Stewart Whitfield
Camden Dougherty Henry Monroe Sumter Wilcox
Candler Douglas Houston Montgomery Talbot Wilkes
Carroll Early Echols Irwin Morgan Taliaferro Wilkinson
Catoosa Effingham Jackson Murray Tattnall Worth
Charlton Elbert Jasper Muscogee Taylor
Chatham Emanuel Jeff Davis Newton Telfair
Chattahoochee Evans Jefferson Oconee Terrell
Chattooga Fannin Jenkins Oglethorpe Thomas
Click on a button to browse a region:
  
 
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= Location is within +/- 10 miles of the indicated interstate highway. This is especially helpful for out-of-town birders who may be passing through Georgia while travelling and would like to get a quick birding fix. This is also helpful for birders planning a "Big Day," where staying close to a major interstate corridor is essential for covering the greatest diversity of habitats in 24 hours.