Birding spots · Iowa

Best Birding Spots in Story County, Iowa

Ada Hayden Heritage Park leads Story County's birding spots with 216 species reported, best in spring. 40 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
Ada Hayden Heritage Park	216	1,681	70	192	108	147
Hendrickson Marsh Wildlife Management Area	196	556	36	183	100	94
Carr Park	174	1,200	35	164	99	130
Tedesco Environmental Learning Corridor (TELC)	173	969	44	124	88	139
McFarland Park - Skunk River Greenbelt	160	723	29	151	86	97
Peterson Park - Skunk River Greenbelt	153	461	32	136	79	105
Hickory Grove Park	146	415	26	116	74	77
Reactor Woods	143	397	26	133	73	89
Brookside Park	140	945	31	130	76	97
Ada Hayden Heritage Park (south)	140	532	59	117	47	62
Laverne Lake (southwest)	130	329	28	115	38	65
Robison Wildlife Acres	129	203	22	116	55	62
Colo Wetland Wildlife Management Area	123	567	14	116	53	43
River Valley Park	116	176	26	101	52	51
Laverne Lake (Clear Creek)	113	390	24	106	44	69
Ada Hayden Heritage Park (Homestead Colony)	110	146	23	84	43	47
Moore Memorial Park	109	189	20	92	43	36
Lee Park	104	214	27	88	30	61
Laverne Lake	102	491	26	82	35	50
Christiansen Forest Preserve	97	112	16	80	42	46
Skunk River Greenbelt	96	103	18	73	39	28
Inis Grove Park	96	55	17	87	31	34
Dakins Lake	88	60	0	76	37	8
Park	87	90	14	79	23	45
Gunder/Nutty Woods	85	55	3	75	17	33
Munn Woods	82	154	17	60	26	40
Heart of Iowa Nature Trail	78	96	0	72	7	14
Jennett Heritage Area	63	62	34	17	1	29
Jim Ketelsen Greenwing Marsh	62	51	1	36	23	34
Laverne Lake (College Creek)	59	192	16	55	1	17
State Forest Nursery	58	69	34	41	0	28
4-H Park	36	93	16	14	2	30
Reiman Gardens	30	50	10	20	21	1
Birding spot near Ames	118	222	34	84	65	72
Birding spot near Ames (east)	106	120	17	90	46	29
Birding spot near Ames (northeast)	93	58	19	67	16	60
Birding spot near Randall	65	72	0	60	18	1
Birding spot near Gilbert	64	79	18	22	29	43
Birding spot near Slater	60	110	21	52	1	15
Birding spot near Ames (College Creek)	57	94	9	32	21	29