Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in Humboldt County, California

Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary leads Humboldt County's birding spots with 245 species reported, best in fall. 237 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary	245	6,882	180	185	161	212
Mad River Slough Wildlife Area	209	3,102	151	144	86	168
Triangle Marsh	194	1,632	153	162	122	140
Clam Beach County Park	172	690	83	101	102	123
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (northeast)	170	1,138	115	132	95	134
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (Jacoby Creek)	170	781	119	115	107	138
Buhne Point	167	1,048	110	114	88	133
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (southwest)	159	711	108	107	99	123
Long Pond	159	487	121	103	83	101
Stone Lagoon	157	249	89	85	63	124
Redwood Creek	155	406	94	99	41	124
Humboldt Lagoons State Park	155	230	79	94	89	105
Mad River County Park	153	313	75	76	94	113
Hiller Park Playground and Picnic Area	152	452	85	108	88	119
Mosley Island	152	241	78	77	64	124
Palco Marsh	148	274	107	75	36	119
Elk River	147	655	94	103	88	102
Stone Lagoon (McDonald Creek)	147	217	88	80	75	87
Liscom Slough	144	728	108	72	21	111
Mad River Fish Hatchery	142	1,102	75	127	99	88
Fay Slough Wildlife Area	142	382	101	84	65	84
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge	142	220	94	87	73	76
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (northeast 2)	141	421	100	74	82	106
Woodley Island	141	386	88	89	72	92
South Spit Wildlife Area	140	291	96	86	58	78
Palmer Creek	139	796	46	116	109	94
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (west)	139	394	79	99	79	95
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (north)	137	272	71	88	70	92
Eel River Wildlife Area	136	202	70	55	75	94
Freshwater Farms Reserve	135	557	87	102	73	98
Dead Mouse Marsh	134	183	93	73	86	77
McKay Community Forest	132	412	85	81	76	93
City of Eureka lot	132	337	35	41	85	106
Redwood National Park	132	330	79	68	69	68
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (northeast 3)	129	287	92	65	60	87
Big Lagoon Park	129	211	72	58	65	80
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (northeast)	129	97	85	68	51	84
Cock Robin Island	129	91	63	45	66	95
Dry Lagoon	128	188	63	81	67	76
Big Lagoon Wildlife Area	128	102	68	24	20	92
Cooper Gulch Park	124	724	48	75	61	110
Sue-meg State Park	124	684	71	91	79	82
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (McDaniel Slough)	124	314	96	71	53	94
Palco Marsh (northeast)	123	142	83	69	44	93
Clam Beach County Park (south)	122	262	55	83	57	62
Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Jacoby Creek)	122	176	71	75	68	64
Freshwater Lagoon	120	274	93	28	18	59
Manila Dunes Area of Critical Environmental Concern	120	180	50	64	59	55
Humboldt Bay	119	228	80	67	48	91
Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary (north)	119	192	86	16	39	85