Birding spots · North Carolina

Best Birding Spots in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Mecklenburg County Open Space - Cowan's Ford Wildlife Refuge leads Mecklenburg County's birding spots with 174 species reported, best in spring. 74 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
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Cowan's Ford Wildlife Refuge	174	1,735	85	147	89	138
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McAlpine Creek Park	164	1,919	81	138	83	124
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Chantilly Park	163	1,639	75	135	65	135
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Clark's Creek Nature Preserve	152	1,456	80	119	68	134
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McDowell Nature Preserve	150	805	81	132	72	109
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Colonel Francis J. Beatty Park	149	1,469	80	126	75	112
Mecklenburg County Open Space	138	1,239	59	125	63	114
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Latta Park	131	1,868	46	129	42	75
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Latta Plantation Nature Preserve	128	472	60	107	61	96
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Ribbonwalk Nature Preserve	126	576	47	98	53	107
Fourmile Creek	125	537	60	116	46	82
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McAlpine Creek Greenway	120	730	62	90	56	71
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Four Mile Creek Greenway	118	401	64	103	42	78
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Little Sugar Creek Greenway	111	400	71	83	48	60
Reedy Creek Regional Park	108	491	58	98	52	58
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Ezell Farm Park	108	229	52	90	35	64
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McDowell Nature Preserve (southwest)	105	247	57	84	48	60
Mecklenburg County Open Space - James Boyce Park	104	331	58	91	39	77
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Renaissance Park	104	75	58	82	7	23
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Freedom Park	103	936	61	90	49	66
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Latta Plantation Nature Preserve (Crescent Pond)	102	223	51	90	52	59
Davidson College Nature Preserve	99	169	50	82	34	73
Mecklenburg County Open Space - West Branch Nature Preserve	98	179	59	78	23	52
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Rural Hill Nature Preserve	95	334	53	73	45	42
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Bailey Road Park	94	591	54	77	52	65
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McDowell Nature Preserve (Porter Branch)	91	312	76	55	19	51
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Irwin Creek Greenway	91	129	48	65	26	70
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Iswa Nature Preserve	89	132	50	76	29	34
Lake Davidson Nature Preserve	88	118	35	76	30	28
Mecklenburg County Open Space - McMullen Creek Greenway	87	150	55	73	31	48
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Stevens Creek Nature Preserve	86	290	48	73	39	65
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Torrence Creek Greenway	85	109	42	56	30	56
Town of Davidson Open Space	85	82	42	57	47	44
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Matthews-Mint Hill Park	83	112	43	54	32	53
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Jetton Park	79	148	58	54	26	44
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Eastover Park	79	104	38	61	34	47
Hechenbleikner Lake	78	174	36	59	28	43
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Little Sugar Creek Greenway (Dairy Branch)	77	149	43	64	38	44
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Latta Plantation Nature Preserve (Gar Creek)	77	117	40	47	34	34
Hechenbleikner Lake (Hampton Park)	74	87	45	55	30	42
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Park Road Park	73	148	42	60	41	39
Number One Settling Basin	71	155	26	59	30	16
Barger Lake	71	57	41	59	24	23
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Kilborne Park	70	56	30	55	11	19
Number One Settling Basin (Ravenwood)	69	59	55	41	0	0
Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary	67	534	50	47	26	37
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Sedgefield Park	66	116	42	58	2	12
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Rural Hill Nature Preserve (Allison Ferry)	66	64	32	47	16	10
Mecklenburg County Open Space - Clarks Creek Greenway	64	63	35	41	4	34
Town of Matthews Open Space	63	76	35	55	16	15