Birding spots · Illinois

Best Birding Spots in Will County, Illinois

Whalon Lake leads Will County's birding spots with 221 species reported, best in spring. 75 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
Whalon Lake	221	4,016	86	182	110	171
McKinley Woods Preserve 1	186	1,132	92	150	91	126
Frontage Road Pond	185	490	59	124	105	120
Monee Reservoir	177	1,145	68	146	80	104
Black Walnut Creek Preserve 1	174	2,192	68	124	101	113
Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area	170	1,300	87	136	86	88
Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail	167	789	58	147	92	121
Whalon Lake (Walnut Woods)	161	1,186	50	109	77	116
Centennial Trail	159	367	42	141	73	97
Winston Village	156	556	53	132	75	114
Knoch Knolls Park	155	842	43	145	91	110
Lake Strini	152	289	25	137	67	100
Goodenow Grove Forest Preserve	151	1,753	47	137	80	104
Deer Lake (Lincolnshire)	148	474	33	141	82	87
Midewin Other	146	920	41	116	102	55
Lake Chaminwood Preserve 2	146	853	57	124	75	100
Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve	141	576	27	118	88	79
Lake Renwick County Forest Preserve	141	405	47	117	59	80
Lake Renwick (Heron View Estates)	140	547	65	109	65	94
Milliken Lake (northwest)	137	189	23	126	81	44
Midewin Other (northeast)	132	410	13	109	96	7
Rock Run Rookery Preserve 1	131	902	83	103	59	65
Midewin Other (southwest)	131	635	29	115	97	40
Pine Lake	130	291	36	99	47	77
Milliken Lake	129	214	31	116	74	66
Kankakee River State Park (west)	127	152	31	115	68	34
Farmington Commons Park	124	376	53	93	56	71
Messenger Woods County Forest Preserve	124	303	19	119	45	63
Isle a la Cache	123	457	43	95	53	59
Raccoon Grove	119	408	24	114	41	47
Sauk Trail Reservoir	119	150	22	84	65	83
Pilcher Park	117	340	43	104	58	49
Hidden Lakes Park	116	218	37	93	50	59
Hammel Woods	114	222	27	98	50	62
Riverview Farmstead Preserve 1	112	266	38	86	64	42
Island Park	110	545	73	63	53	38
Kankakee Sands Preserve 4	110	122	15	94	62	50
Midewin Other (Kemery Lake)	107	144	5	70	85	13
Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail (Channahon)	104	169	50	77	37	48
Rock Run County Forest Preserve (Autumn Lake Estates)	102	170	28	68	60	63
Lake Renwick	98	582	55	83	43	61
Spring Creek County Forest Preserve	97	134	18	74	58	49
Rock Run County Forest Preserve	96	183	17	76	47	53
Wauponsee Glacial Trail 1	95	153	0	68	78	10
Legion Lake	93	174	32	72	44	59
Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area (DuPage River)	93	115	48	53	50	30
Midewin Other (southwest)	91	61	0	78	66	0
Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve	89	56	11	80	30	29
Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area (Grape Island)	88	56	11	37	45	55
Keepataw Preserve	85	78	24	62	46	15