Birding spots · Connecticut

Best Birding Spots in New Haven County, Connecticut

Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve leads New Haven County's birding spots with 290 species reported, best in fall. 172 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
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve	290	10,098	144	237	170	238
Beard Cove (historical)	262	8,925	110	213	156	224
Lighthouse Point	231	2,239	86	148	108	209
Mohawk Swamp	225	3,247	122	151	113	188
Morse Park	220	3,681	82	155	146	171
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (Hammonasset Point)	218	1,736	102	165	105	145
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (southeast)	216	1,896	97	165	110	150
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (Willard Island)	200	1,363	78	168	98	143
East Rock State Park	176	4,264	78	161	92	113
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (west)	167	1,011	59	103	98	110
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (Dardanells)	167	611	43	131	90	107
Pardee Rose Garden	166	3,011	68	151	76	95
Beard Cove (historical) (Cedar Beach)	164	1,177	53	107	110	118
Bent of the River Sanctuary	157	2,125	67	147	111	104
Dismal Swamp	154	2,003	76	136	72	107
Iris Pond	152	1,163	69	130	75	111
Game Farm Pond	149	1,312	52	111	72	126
Lake Whitney	146	781	74	127	69	99
Maltby Lakes West	146	513	62	124	82	114
Osbornedale State Park	145	780	61	107	71	115
Leetes Island	141	1,057	65	114	86	80
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (Dudley Creek)	139	70	11	23	94	100
Branford Supply Ponds	138	766	57	112	83	98
Hop Brook Lake	137	556	44	115	81	98
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (southeast)	137	414	34	71	79	81
Lake Wintergreen	136	513	55	119	81	89
East Shore Park	136	493	69	51	48	107
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (West Rock)	136	483	66	95	71	72
Marsh Meadow	134	355	45	98	56	97
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (northwest)	133	392	75	83	58	85
Fort Hale Park	132	498	65	61	43	96
Farm Brook Reservoir	131	167	55	102	65	78
Lake Chamberlain	130	463	54	116	75	86
Chaffinch Island	128	479	49	88	69	83
Fitzgerald Property	127	724	32	76	68	118
Hammonasset Natural Area Preserve (Cedar Knoll)	126	452	51	68	63	70
Granite Bay	125	240	53	95	68	74
Talmages Ice Pond	125	174	28	41	28	113
Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Area	124	291	28	92	75	72
Naugatuck State Forestt	122	426	14	110	81	79
East River Corridor Protection	120	177	45	77	65	88
Bristols Ice Pond (historical)	116	329	43	92	68	78
Indian Head	115	300	21	110	33	24
Lidyhites Pond	115	115	50	92	46	36
Pin Oak Pond	114	451	34	107	73	70
Konolds Pond (Lake Wintergreen)	114	312	35	97	64	46
Nigs Pond	113	336	26	112	29	42
Tyler Mill (town Open Space)	111	178	25	98	35	30
Long Pond	110	555	53	76	61	73
Nathan Pond	110	319	28	104	67	58