Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in Santa Cruz County, California

Wilder Ranch State Park leads Santa Cruz County's birding spots with 213 species reported, best in spring. 204 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
Wilder Ranch State Park	213	1,824	141	161	136	159
Natural Bridges State Beach	212	3,862	130	152	130	183
College Lake	188	1,099	140	156	108	138
Sunset Beach	188	792	146	139	113	154
Younger Lagoon Reserve (Terrace Point)	185	2,144	116	116	117	152
Port Watsonville (historical)	185	1,423	122	123	110	155
Younger Lagoon Reserve	182	2,165	132	140	98	142
Antonelli Pond	180	2,778	121	123	94	156
Wilder Ranch State Park (Laguna Creek)	179	783	125	113	95	152
Sunset State Beach (Watsonville Slough)	177	809	121	120	110	132
Watsonville Slough Ecological Reserve	175	1,445	125	115	94	150
Sunset State Beach	175	1,060	120	112	87	122
Lighthouse Field State Beach	174	2,392	115	115	82	143
Wilder Ranch State Park (Baldwin Creek)	173	670	133	126	66	137
Corcoran Lagoon	171	2,106	107	107	108	140
Struve Slough	171	1,197	115	91	73	154
Sunset Beach (Watsonville Slough)	169	608	122	124	82	131
Scott Creek Marsh	167	1,900	108	87	65	151
Neary Lagoon Park	166	2,556	108	111	85	133
Pinto Lake Park	165	1,499	121	120	101	143
Twin Lakes State Beach	155	1,896	114	114	76	108
Seacliff State Beach	155	1,294	108	105	82	117
Twin Lakes State Beach (Schwan Lagoon)	154	1,275	107	105	82	129
Big Basin Redwoods State Park	153	642	78	102	92	114
Sunset State Beach (Sunset Beach)	152	348	79	92	79	105
Carbonera Creek	150	806	106	105	79	101
Harkins Slough	149	732	115	101	75	121
Watsonville Slough	146	458	97	93	68	120
Wilder Ranch State Park (Sandy Flat Gulch)	146	233	82	87	93	107
Big Basin Redwoods State Park (Waddell Creek Beach)	145	605	79	83	75	88
Natural Bridges State Beach (Rapetti (historical))	145	549	84	103	79	105
Struve Slough (east)	143	308	88	78	72	121
Seacliff State Beach (Aptos Creek)	142	986	106	88	79	108
Harkins Slough (Nuga (historical))	139	668	102	114	20	37
Wilder Ranch State Park (Needle Rock Point)	139	170	91	74	55	118
Bethany Curve Greenbelt	138	1,540	73	67	50	126
Wilder Ranch State Park (Sand Hill Bluff)	137	182	90	60	77	101
Pinto Lake Park (south)	135	543	108	82	69	86
Watsonville Slough Ecological Reserve (north)	135	372	83	63	83	110
New Brighton State Beach	132	651	75	87	81	109
Antonelli Pond (Rapetti (historical))	127	1,083	72	35	36	126
Twin Lakes Beach	127	873	88	110	55	75
Natural Bridges State Beach (Moore Creek)	126	970	79	71	66	88
Scott Creek Beach County Park	126	355	78	72	48	87
Quail Hollow Ranch Park	125	1,374	91	101	83	98
Manresa State Beach	124	302	82	83	56	90
Wilder Ranch State Park (Meder Creek)	124	277	74	89	70	85
California Coastal National Monument	123	466	48	86	74	82
Younger Lagoon	122	436	77	77	56	83
Struve Slough (Hanson Slough)	122	117	83	75	33	72