Birding spots · Illinois

Best Birding Spots in Jackson County, Illinois

Carbondale Reservoir leads Jackson County's birding spots with 183 species reported, best in fall. 24 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
Carbondale Reservoir	183	1,735	97	140	91	156
Campus Lake	146	450	63	131	59	78
Shawnee National Forest	142	307	42	131	60	35
Shawnee National Forest (Pomona)	135	282	10	133	72	0
Oakwood Bottoms Greentree Reservoir Interpretive Site	125	168	42	113	48	36
Lake Murphysboro State Park	117	130	46	79	52	55
Chautauqua Bottoms Nature Preserve	111	249	45	91	48	61
Giant City State Park	109	243	27	90	62	54
Shawnee National Forest (east)	108	76	36	95	28	11
Middle Mississippi Purchase Unit	105	121	11	78	71	40
Campus Lake (Southern Hills)	92	417	33	79	27	46
Middle Mississippi Purchase Unit (Halfmoon Island)	85	54	2	51	67	11
Pomona Natural Bridge	71	93	12	64	47	3
Deer Lake	69	764	42	62	37	31
Shawnee National Forest (Wolf Creek)	67	54	0	63	16	0
Brush Hill Nature Preserve	60	57	7	43	10	39
Fernlands Nature Preserve	58	50	24	40	13	9
Giant City State Park (Stone Fort)	54	56	0	44	32	17
Birding spot near Hurst	140	137	55	112	54	67
Birding spot near Gorham	96	94	17	77	23	0
Birding spot near Vergennes	96	81	64	59	17	0
Birding spot near Carbondale	87	118	30	65	37	43
Birding spot near Gorham (northwest)	75	56	0	72	8	4
Birding spot near Grand Tower	62	90	8	33	47	2