Birding spots · Florida

Best Birding Spots in Alachua County, Florida

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park leads Alachua County's birding spots with 239 species reported, best in spring. 133 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
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park	239	12,716	180	199	123	199
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (Alachua Sink)	239	5,657	172	187	135	196
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (south)	204	2,172	130	149	110	150
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (southeast)	203	1,127	146	146	99	170
Palm Point Nature Park	193	2,615	84	116	102	173
Chapmans Pond at Kanapaha Park	186	1,537	112	130	84	155
Alachua Rail to Trail	172	1,647	108	125	65	129
Earl P. Powers Park	164	1,111	78	113	91	120
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (south)	157	2,092	105	85	83	91
Paynes Prairie	157	215	110	117	76	85
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (southeast 2)	154	635	97	102	73	126
Chacala Pond	150	1,255	121	111	70	96
Watermelon Pond Mitigation Park Wildlife and Environmental Area	148	891	90	122	94	108
Wauberg Lake	147	830	93	74	61	117
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park (north)	143	322	83	101	73	102
Orange Creek Restoration Area (northwest)	142	211	89	105	82	121
Natural Area Teaching Laboratory	139	1,966	83	109	63	107
Newnans Lake State Forest	138	553	71	93	72	107
Barr Hammock Preserve	137	410	88	106	62	103
Bivens Rim Forest	137	292	73	87	52	110
Boulware Springs Park	136	826	103	100	51	93
Depot Park	133	1,544	99	87	61	100
Split Rock Conservation Area	133	414	70	100	64	94
Turkey Creek Hammock Preserve	132	815	62	96	64	119
Sweetwater Preserve	132	274	84	95	38	93
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (southeast 3)	127	124	99	65	50	58
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens	126	483	76	101	43	72
Tuscawilla Preserve	126	335	88	81	55	88
Owens-Illinois Park	124	317	61	73	59	89
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (east)	121	198	72	83	37	66
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park	119	1,323	57	90	57	84
Lake Alice (west)	118	345	68	82	53	88
Watermelon Pond - Metzger Tract (south)	112	185	61	76	63	58
Loblolly Woods Nature Park	111	869	64	68	35	85
Newnans Lake State Forest (northeast)	111	474	92	65	29	89
Watermelon Pond Mitigation Park Wildlife and Environmental Area (Horseshoe Pond)	111	133	51	83	70	45
Watermelon Pond - Metzger Tract	109	209	38	90	69	12
Longleaf Flatwoods Reserve	108	676	74	89	70	49
Prairie Creek Preserve (ACT)	107	241	80	68	0	73
Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail	107	165	84	77	35	66
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park (Blues Creek)	106	166	69	77	61	65
Lake Alice (southwest)	105	314	75	76	46	62
Calf Pond	105	212	79	68	33	64
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park (Sweetwater Branch)	102	63	65	59	27	86
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park (northwest)	100	347	44	56	54	63
Bivans Arm	100	208	71	44	33	57
Loblolly Woods Nature Park (Hogtown Creek)	97	404	49	62	37	73
Newnans Lake	97	66	39	68	22	45
Blues Creek Ravine	96	306	31	77	27	67
Prairie Creek Preserve (ACT) (Rochelle)	96	169	51	71	27	68