Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in Imperial County, California

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge leads Imperial County's birding spots with 205 species reported, best in spring. 52 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
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge	205	2,929	152	174	121	162
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (Rock Hill)	197	1,349	151	167	110	150
Salton Sea - Irrigation District	161	847	99	113	99	110
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (southwest 2)	160	637	104	102	108	123
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (southwest)	154	975	121	120	34	106
Salton Sea - Irrigation District (Obsidian Butte)	154	466	100	104	90	113
Imperial Wildlife Area	152	523	118	126	77	96
Ramer Lake	143	304	91	103	75	102
Rotary Park	136	912	89	114	51	80
Stewarts Lake	134	110	68	87	0	72
Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge (southwest 3)	131	116	99	75	41	71
Salton Sea - Irrigation District (southwest)	121	154	77	71	46	67
Salton Sea - Irrigation District (Red Island)	120	305	87	91	70	69
Finney Lake	119	158	68	85	41	80
Sunbeam Lake Park	112	297	82	68	32	58
Salton Sea - Irrigation District (northeast)	112	148	34	89	80	50
Imperial Wildlife Area (south)	111	246	88	73	24	54
Red Island	105	113	68	52	11	47
Imperial Wildlife Area (south 2)	96	86	59	68	14	45
Senator Wash Reservoir	95	161	69	55	10	49
Riverview Cemetery	91	259	37	69	23	49
Wiest Lake	89	135	72	51	0	66
Salton Sea - Irrigation District (north)	82	133	48	41	21	31
Bombay Beach	77	159	52	40	18	43
Xanyō Xamshré	77	112	58	35	0	26
Imperial Reservoir	77	62	49	38	9	24
Imperial Wildlife Area (south 3)	62	59	39	32	5	22
Fish Spring	55	64	27	30	10	34
Palo Verde County Park	53	50	23	32	7	6
Rockwood Plaza Park	26	80	20	18	9	15
Birding spot near Westmorland	187	1,950	143	153	96	128
Birding spot near Niland	155	363	97	115	82	115
Birding spot near Seeley	152	324	104	113	56	92
Birding spot near Westmorland (northeast)	131	244	76	81	82	95
Birding spot near Calipatria (west)	123	83	89	50	55	74
Birding spot near Seeley (east)	116	186	79	72	38	65
Birding spot near Niland (northeast)	111	282	65	79	53	68
Birding spot near Imperial (southeast)	105	119	79	73	49	54
Birding spot near El Centro	88	141	45	62	24	50
Birding spot near Imperial	85	121	56	53	8	34
Birding spot near Calipatria (Estelle)	83	145	61	40	18	25
Birding spot near Brawley	83	118	69	59	16	38
Birding spot near Brawley (west)	78	60	12	50	37	40
Birding spot near Calipatria	76	157	71	38	0	14
Birding spot near Yuma Proving Ground	74	106	63	39	10	16
Birding spot near Westmorland (east)	73	141	34	38	28	28
Birding spot near Niland (north)	61	58	23	42	20	20
Birding spot near Seeley (east)	56	175	28	45	9	25
Birding spot near Jacumba	52	82	20	40	18	20
Birding spot near Calipatria (southwest)	50	58	45	1	0	9