Birding spots · Michigan

Best Birding Spots in Jackson County, Michigan

Watkins Lake leads Jackson County's birding spots with 186 species reported, best in spring. 47 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
Watkins Lake	186	2,334	81	146	114	141
Portage Lake	179	1,222	58	167	88	120
Mud Lake	174	1,382	52	137	85	136
South Jackson	135	570	47	111	83	105
Skiff Lake	128	663	55	106	77	87
Waterloo State Wildlife Area	128	463	36	104	95	30
Lime Lake Park	119	201	30	114	55	35
Batteese Lake	118	115	32	102	52	38
Fay Lake	117	254	45	62	61	90
Waterloo Recreation Area	107	270	0	100	63	59
Inter-City Bike Trail	106	125	0	98	45	57
Waterloo Recreation Area (west)	105	251	0	96	59	51
Waterloo Recreation Area (northeast)	98	122	15	82	54	21
Mill Pond (Concord)	96	140	28	78	53	45
Kate Palmer Sanctuary	93	323	17	86	48	27
Clear Lake	93	92	2	55	80	6
Portage Lake Park	87	170	21	74	27	33
Lefglen	87	96	27	61	48	57
Gilletts Lake	83	346	34	72	31	42
Grand River Fen	82	102	29	62	57	29
Tucker Lake (Tamarack Lake)	81	94	11	61	64	0
Grass Lake	77	199	30	67	18	18
Waterloo Recreation Area (west)	70	92	10	63	22	19
Norvell Lake	68	232	33	58	14	19
Little Wolf Lake Park	66	132	15	48	17	29
Sharp Park	65	116	36	45	11	36
Clark Lake	62	156	31	42	16	25
Griffith Lake	62	68	10	37	49	36
Waterloo State Wildlife Area (west)	61	82	27	45	10	0
Pleasant Lake (northwest)	61	70	9	43	36	37
Tamarack Lake	57	97	0	45	38	0
Lake Columbia	54	73	34	24	10	23
Crispell Lake	54	70	14	40	27	21
Leoni Township Park	53	241	31	26	27	8
Round Lake Park	51	58	9	35	9	8
R A Greene Park	46	103	2	9	41	7
Sparks Park	45	54	16	27	33	24
Vineyard Lake Park	40	65	16	28	0	13
Leoni Millpond	37	60	19	31	1	0
Mercedes Lake	20	58	19	3	0	3
Birding spot near Jackson	185	1,392	68	156	105	115
Birding spot near Grass Lake	162	843	40	142	63	100
Birding spot near Jackson (south)	137	355	58	104	64	68
Birding spot near Michigan Center	127	344	36	105	64	52
Birding spot near Jackson (Wildcat Creek)	127	193	47	80	71	46
Birding spot near Springport (east)	78	166	13	58	56	39
Birding spot near Napoleon	49	96	18	44	0	0