Birding spots · Illinois

Best Birding Spots in Kane County, Illinois

Nelson Lake Marsh leads Kane County's birding spots with 228 species reported, best in spring. 111 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
Nelson Lake Marsh	228	2,911	84	205	134	182
Burnidge/Paul Wolff Forest Preserve	203	2,005	71	185	117	153
Oakhurst Forest Preserve	182	1,244	43	168	85	141
Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve	172	1,472	56	157	99	120
Fabyan Forest Preserve	168	1,297	67	146	81	91
Big Rock Forest Preserve 1	167	538	38	143	88	117
Fox River Shores Forest Preserve	165	455	63	136	65	91
Campton Lake	160	501	36	141	94	108
Les Arends County Forest Preserve	153	1,299	50	147	84	98
Leroy Oaks County Forest Preserve	152	888	37	140	82	115
Campton Forest Preserve	149	339	24	139	78	77
Brunner Family Forest Preserve	148	1,151	77	111	61	95
Aurora West Forest Preserve	145	401	43	126	80	74
Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve	143	425	41	135	49	66
Hampshire Forest Preserve	143	311	46	126	62	66
Jelke Creek Bird Sanctuary	140	633	36	100	76	100
Brunner Family Forest Preserve (Lake Marian)	139	712	63	98	83	86
Hannaford Woods Forest Preserve	138	356	55	120	68	90
Freeman Kame Nature Preserve	136	235	31	120	72	61
Buffalo Park Forest Preserve	135	487	37	114	66	96
Johnson's Mound Nature Preserve	134	373	26	115	72	73
Bliss Woods Forest Preserve	132	474	44	118	68	87
Fabyan Forest Preserve (west)	131	480	35	123	71	72
Harold Hall Quarry Beach	129	424	48	116	60	58
Tekakwitha County Forest Preserve	128	189	33	116	50	56
Campton Hills Park	127	476	37	96	59	82
Norris Woods Nature Preserve	127	384	42	113	66	75
Fitchie Creek Forest Preserve	126	318	32	108	68	75
Culver Forest Preserve	125	308	34	109	60	86
Freeman Kame-Meagher Forest Preserve 8	124	297	34	96	68	71
Bennet Park	123	472	35	106	47	56
Raceway Woods	120	290	39	90	59	87
Kenyon Farm Forest Preserve	120	184	24	104	45	57
Elburn Forest Preserve	118	193	32	95	62	66
Burlington Prairie Forest Preserve 6	118	141	26	102	57	55
Binnie Forest Preserve	115	245	32	89	51	51
Seba Park	112	189	49	88	55	53
Lone Grove Forest Preserve	112	183	21	89	48	74
Lippold Park (Mill Creek)	111	261	39	84	49	72
Aurora Chain of Lakes Cherry Hills Diversion	110	187	34	73	68	74
Ferson Creek Fen Nature Preserve	108	374	33	77	60	72
Batavia Creek	108	171	39	92	39	55
O'Donnell Park	108	148	14	96	46	51
Duck Island	106	553	36	76	71	49
Pingree Grove Forest Preserve	105	137	21	93	57	45
Blackberry Maples Forest Preserve	104	191	35	89	39	23
Rutland Forest Preserve	103	129	11	94	35	31
Jericho Lake Park and Stuart Sports Complex	101	192	34	78	50	58
Delnor Woods Park	98	300	28	86	42	53
Otter Creek Bend Wetland Park	98	136	7	89	40	30