Birding spots

Best Birding Spots in Massachusetts

By species reported, the top birding spots in Massachusetts are Hate Cove, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and Moon Pond. Hate Cove has the longest list (295 species), and its best season is spring.

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	County	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Hate Cove	Essex County	295	8,243	129	250	216	249
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge	Essex County	252	7,321	93	207	182	212
Moon Pond	Barnstable County	250	2,134	99	185	133	208
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary	Barnstable County	246	7,399	94	197	174	214
Horseneck Beach State Reservation	Bristol County	246	3,088	89	166	153	209
Town Cove	Barnstable County	242	4,765	130	191	138	213
Manomet Bird Observatory	Plymouth County	239	3,294	97	190	140	187
Halibut Point	Essex County	234	4,357	118	175	117	187
Horn Pond	Middlesex County	224	14,888	119	181	141	192
Morris Island Marshes	Barnstable County	222	2,294	96	154	145	165
Belle Isle Inlet Marshes	Suffolk County	221	6,450	92	184	122	165
Salisbury Beach State Reservation	Essex County	221	5,019	122	163	86	169
Race Run	Barnstable County	219	2,504	96	143	146	171
Andrews Point	Essex County	216	3,044	89	124	116	164
Great Meadows	Middlesex County	215	10,723	101	179	145	176
Crane Beach on the Crane Estate	Essex County	215	1,698	88	159	128	139
Chauncy Lake	Worcester County	214	4,772	100	185	123	188
Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary	Hampshire County	214	3,702	89	176	123	185
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Sandy Beach)	Essex County	214	3,234	77	165	117	147
Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary (Lighthouse Cove)	Essex County	212	864	104	160	94	160
Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary	Plymouth County	210	3,737	98	174	118	147
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Pork Island)	Essex County	209	3,419	51	153	121	121
Allens Pond	Bristol County	209	688	85	162	133	127
Millennium Park	Suffolk County	208	7,986	108	173	131	169
Squantum Point	Norfolk County	208	4,708	79	164	100	175
Scusset Harbor (historical)	Barnstable County	204	1,804	111	158	78	144
Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area	Worcester County	202	4,028	86	190	117	134
Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary	Barnstable County	201	1,984	94	145	115	151
Arcadia Wildlife Refuge	Hampshire County	200	4,412	87	170	119	162
Lily Pond	Barnstable County	200	1,124	81	146	104	150

By county