Pensacola: A Birding Enthusiast’s Paradise
Grab your binoculars, your camera and open your eBird app because you’re in for a birding treasure hunt in the Pensacola Bay Area. If you consider yourself a birder – it’s time for you to discover our birding paradise.
Pensacola is the perfect place for birding and just so happens to sit directly in the path of two major migratory fly zones. The Gulf Islands National Seashore provides the longest stretch of protected seashore in the country. That means Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key’s shoreline is often the first stop for dozens of species of migratory birds, all following some little understood instinct to take to the sky in mass, making their journey across the Gulf of Mexico every spring and fall.
Tens of thousands of migrating birds find Pensacola’s tree-lined coast the perfect rest stop to fuel up. Our miles of undeveloped coastline - with oak hammocks, dune vegetation and fresh water sources - is like a buffet for migratory birds seeking the fuel and rest they need to make the hundreds of miles flight ahead of them. Like human vacationers flock to our shores, so many species of colorful, tropical birds (orioles, towhees, indigo buntings, warblers in hues of greens and yellows, and ruby-throated hummingbirds) return to Pensacola’s beaches every year to rest, relax and refuel.
But even our winged permanent residents will keep you guessing year-round, as you never know what might fly over at any time.
The Pensacola Bay Area features bays, bayous, beaches, rivers and woodlands, all within very close proximity. It’s why more than 300 species of birds call Pensacola home. Colorful songbirds, birds of prey, waterfowl and coastal birds - all can be spotted here if you’re patient and know where to look.
You don’t need backyard feeders to witness the feathery spectacle. Our area is filled with ideal birding spots. Keep in mind it does take some patience and luck on timing but to up your odds of seeing the birds, clean the lenses of your binoculars, grab a birding book and check out these spots:
Big Lagoon State Park
Big Lagoon State Park near Perdido Key is the gateway for the Great Florida Birding Trail, a 2,000-mile trail through protected bird habitat in the state.
You don’t have to venture far to find birds. With 600-acres along the Intracoastal Waterway, the Big Lagoon parks is home to an abundance of shorebirds and wintering ducks. Its trees are likely to attract migrating songbirds.
Gulf Islands National Seashore
The Gulf Islands National Seashore is definitely a local hotspot for migratory birds. The miles of undeveloped coastline with oak hammocks, dune vegetation and fresh water sources is like a buffet for migratory birds seeking the fuel and rest they need to make the hundreds of miles flight ahead of them. Magnolia warblers are among the many warblers spotted here, along with tanagers and oriels. Fall signals the end of shorebird nesting season along the seashore’s sugar white sand beaches, but you still may see some snowy plovers, skimmers and least terns.
Project Greenshores
This award-winning coastal habitat restoration project attracts huge numbers of coastal birds and is a favorite spot for birders. Spread out along Pensacola’s Bayfront Parkway along Pensacola Bay, it offers a number of viewing sites, including Wayside Park at the foot of the Pensacola Bay Bridge. If you venture west of the bridge across the street from the Veterans Memorial Park, you’ll find a boardwalk to the Hawkshaw Lagoon at Missing Children’s Memorial. That area provides a great viewing spot of tidal marshes, sea grass beds and oyster reefs where brown pelicans, osprey, herons and even a rare Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow was spotted.
More bird watching spots
For a complete list of local birding hotspots, visit the Audubon Francis M. Weston’s chapter “Birding in the Pensacola Bay Area” website. And, check out the chapter’s website on for migrating bird alerts and to report observations.
In Pensacola, you never know what exciting feathered visitor might stop over. That’s really the thrill of birding; it’s always a treasure hunt.
