Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in Merced County, California

Merced National Wildlife Refuge (northeast) leads Merced County's birding spots with 161 species reported, best in winter. 46 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
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (northeast)	161	516	127	124	63	122
Merced National Wildlife Refuge	158	667	136	127	38	121
Scout Island	150	339	94	104	49	110
Yosemite Lake	141	138	92	95	45	105
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (north)	125	584	109	90	27	73
North Beach (South Beach)	125	201	81	84	36	87
Grasslands Wildlife Management Area	124	235	87	105	44	31
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge	123	300	92	82	44	59
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (north 2)	122	169	82	101	16	63
Domengine Spring	119	324	42	95	27	90
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (east)	115	131	87	87	9	60
South Bowl	112	678	81	79	36	71
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (Deadmans Slough)	112	79	88	71	1	45
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (southeast)	111	180	81	79	0	62
Henderson Park	110	193	78	69	42	81
O'Neill Forebay	108	87	63	58	38	80
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area	106	133	55	71	17	71
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area (northwest)	104	127	68	70	28	65
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (northeast)	104	82	80	60	4	49
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area (Tunnel Island)	100	114	65	64	43	43
Los Banos Reservoir	96	105	51	75	2	53
Los Banos Wildlife Area (Upper Ruth Lake)	95	59	63	48	13	19
Volta Wildlife Area	94	56	80	68	0	15
Dinosaur Lake	92	163	45	76	41	43
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (north 3)	92	70	73	34	0	56
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (northwest)	87	51	66	68	0	0
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (southeast)	86	55	58	47	0	50
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (northwest)	85	111	54	44	27	44
McConnell State Recreation Area	82	64	41	67	22	37
Los Banos Wildlife Area	81	77	38	54	5	37
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge (northeast)	80	84	56	53	0	38
Merced River	77	97	64	42	10	40
San Luis Reservoir Wildlife Area	75	70	22	68	7	1
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (north 4)	75	69	43	38	9	32
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (west)	71	58	50	39	0	43
Merced National Wildlife Refuge (south)	71	57	48	45	0	42
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area (Domengine Spring)	69	75	28	29	30	56
Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve	66	64	39	43	7	24
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area (west)	63	112	32	43	16	35
Fahrens Park	57	65	40	47	6	42
Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (southeast)	51	56	35	18	9	31
Birding spot near Santa Nella	118	243	85	69	52	84
Birding spot near Gustine	103	88	42	84	64	48
Birding spot near Volta	63	83	19	43	22	35
Birding spot near Le Grand	63	76	39	41	2	30
Birding spot near South Dos Palos (northeast)	27	80	16	16	13	4