Birding spots · California

Best Birding Spots in Ventura County, California

Santa Clara River leads Ventura County's birding spots with 255 species reported, best in fall. 182 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
Santa Clara River	255	5,820	178	202	159	225
Ormond Beach	214	1,519	155	157	111	159
Mugu Lagoon	201	461	136	143	110	137
Lake Casitas	196	411	139	139	110	124
McGrath State Beach	194	1,982	126	134	155	167
Lake Piru	176	691	119	135	95	127
Lake Sherwood	174	2,153	137	127	106	138
Rattlesnake Canyon	174	802	77	143	116	144
Seaside Wilderness Park	174	784	120	124	99	116
Big Sycamore Canyon	173	877	75	116	83	145
Ormond Beach (Port Hueneme)	168	762	130	111	96	130
McGrath State Beach (Santa Clara River)	158	215	89	98	70	128
Emma Wood State Beach	153	312	110	108	85	102
Channel Islands National Park	149	2,123	104	106	80	108
Ojai Meadows Preserve	147	995	109	127	78	93
South Jetty Beach	140	649	91	95	84	95
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area	138	1,590	80	122	89	84
Round Mountain	134	274	94	91	78	65
University Park	134	136	94	96	52	62
Arroyo Verde Park	133	1,345	87	105	83	94
Conejo Canyons Open Space	129	469	73	103	84	79
Wildwood Park	128	1,302	89	109	77	78
Santa Clara River Preserve	124	261	64	97	81	72
Rancho Simi Community Park	123	492	93	83	58	87
Arroyo Park	123	461	103	89	46	85
Conejo Community Park	120	1,294	80	102	70	84
Marina Park	119	957	101	81	73	89
Moranda Park	118	329	96	63	35	80
Mission Oaks Community Park	115	387	73	93	54	83
Ormond Beach (northwest)	115	107	87	64	50	62
Harmon Canyon Preserve	114	691	64	89	72	68
Bob Kildee Community Park	110	990	39	29	41	107
Fresno Canyon	109	126	59	90	55	58
Camino Real Park	106	511	77	70	45	78
San Buenaventura State Beach	105	244	67	44	55	79
Olivas Park	105	128	19	46	84	44
Barranca Vista Park	104	648	72	80	50	71
Bellyache Springs	104	422	50	95	45	50
Oak Canyon Community Park	104	406	65	88	53	55
Los Padres National Forest (Sisar Pasture)	104	199	42	97	55	37
Lower Rose Lake	103	108	37	60	26	67
Cienega Springs Ecological Reserve	103	78	61	76	52	59
Lake Casitas Recreation Area	101	143	57	64	60	55
Ventura River Preserve	100	164	53	80	42	48
Rancho Potrero Open Space	97	362	62	84	47	41
Oxnard Beach	97	260	68	66	36	64
Wadleigh Arm (Santa Ana Valley)	97	56	60	48	48	42
East Las Virgenes Canyon	96	141	49	76	51	50
Conejo Creek North Park	95	519	72	71	37	68
Steckel Park	95	297	57	68	52	53