Birding spots · Illinois

Best Birding Spots in Cook County, Illinois

Lincoln (Abraham) leads Cook County's birding spots with 308 species reported, best in spring. 371 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
Lincoln (Abraham)	308	40,318	124	275	203	263
Park No. 566	244	3,444	86	191	127	206
Lincoln (Abraham) (Montrose - Wilson Beach)	237	3,062	51	185	116	165
Rainbow Beach	230	2,955	74	184	113	191
Park No. 564	225	2,758	71	204	126	170
Gillson Park	215	2,832	71	182	85	162
Jackson (Andrew) (Wooded Island)	215	1,293	51	192	95	156
Skokie Lagoons	213	3,360	69	185	113	159
Northerly Island	212	1,950	60	179	99	148
Jackson (Andrew)	208	3,959	64	193	118	151
Washington (George)	207	1,986	38	197	101	147
Grant (Ulysses)	204	2,766	54	184	75	139
Lincoln (Abraham) (Montrose Harbor)	204	2,284	74	170	65	114
Lincoln (Abraham) (Pine Grove)	199	5,010	57	179	112	151
Crabtree Nature Center	199	2,416	59	178	108	152
Steelworkers	199	1,843	67	158	73	133
Orland Grassland Land and Water Reserve	197	1,587	57	182	111	126
Humboldt (Baron Von)	195	4,181	48	182	95	139
McGinnis Slough	195	1,925	53	162	107	157
Skokie Lagoons (Crow Island)	194	3,351	50	189	117	152
Cottage Park	194	1,568	49	171	117	134
Lincoln (Abraham) (North Pond)	192	4,535	59	173	103	148
Eggers Woods	191	1,158	54	181	102	144
South Pool	191	1,019	40	172	97	118
Burnham (Daniel)	189	1,106	55	156	90	148
Burnham (Daniel) (Fifty-Seventh Street Beach)	189	967	47	146	67	146
Calumet	186	1,381	74	133	53	134
Pulaski Woods	185	2,881	73	172	87	135
La Bagh Woods	184	6,086	50	178	109	137
Lincoln (Abraham) (Mid-North District)	184	568	40	150	65	117
Park No. 568	177	2,716	38	169	83	114
Veterans of Foreign Wars Little League Park	175	2,658	50	161	91	114
Lincoln (Abraham) (South Lagoon)	173	2,486	60	151	85	129
Horner (Henry)	172	2,594	47	156	85	120
Baker Lake	172	539	39	151	74	122
Thatcher Woods	170	2,513	43	166	94	128
Columbus (Christopher)	170	1,990	44	155	89	131
Lincoln (Abraham) (South Pond)	170	1,522	40	150	64	115
Douglas (Stephen)	169	1,219	47	152	95	138
Loyola	168	995	34	123	47	102
Indian Ridge Marsh	168	994	44	135	90	110
Miller Meadow	168	989	49	151	78	104
Penny Road Pond	167	322	37	140	85	98
Ronan (George)	166	2,078	47	149	78	99
Hegewisch Marsh	166	532	39	129	89	113
River	165	2,009	55	138	68	101
Horsetail Lake	164	1,099	43	150	105	80
C F Smith Woods	163	1,367	47	152	71	98
Wolf Lake	163	1,128	82	136	64	74
Centennial 1 Park	162	1,765	19	144	55	101