The Nature Conservancy designated this area of Northwest Florida as a national hot spot for biodiversity in plant and animal life.

Birders flock to areas such as the Blackwater River State Forest, Fort Pickens and Naval Live Oak Preserve to view local and migratory birds such as osprey, herons, red-cockaded woodpeckers, Bachman's sparrows, warblers and tanagers.

Perdido Key, a barrier island that is home to Johnson Beach and one mile from the start of the Alabama Coastal Birding Trail, is a great place to spend some time on the beach and the bay.

Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, one of the longest barrier islands in the country, is part of the Atlantic fly zone, and hundreds of migrating birds can be spotted in May and October.

A habitat restoration project along downtown Pensacola's waterfront, Project Greenshores, attracts large numbers of waterbirds, gulls, terns and cormorants. Sometimes more than 300 are seen at one time!

Just beside it, the Hawkshaw Lagoon Memorial Park features the only national memorial to missing children in the country and serves as an open classroom for students to study the lagoon's ecosystem; it is also an excellent vantage point for bird watching.

Mix a little bird watching with your round of golf at Lost Key Golf Club on Perdido Key, a designated Audubon Signature Cooperative Sanctuary.

The Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier is another easily accessible birding "hot spot" to see gannets, loons and migrating ducks.

Avian Alley at the Gulf Breeze Zoo is a walk-through exhibit providing visitors an interactive experience with birds, including ibis, spoonbills, hammerkops and curasows.

View our Migrating Birds and Butterflies blog post for more information.