Birding spots · North Carolina

Best Birding Spots in New Hanover County, North Carolina

Carolina Beach State Park leads New Hanover County's birding spots with 215 species reported, best in spring. 42 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
Carolina Beach State Park	215	2,051	127	163	100	154
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area	202	1,143	125	156	101	157
Airlie Gardens	199	2,159	129	150	101	166
Federal Point	197	1,553	123	134	82	162
Fort Fisher State Recreation Area (The Basin)	187	275	112	103	79	139
Fort Fisher State Historic Site	180	574	117	102	57	133
Mason Inlet	179	1,938	118	121	101	128
New Hanover County Park	177	1,171	106	124	78	134
Princess Place	153	742	70	95	74	141
Federal Point (The Basin)	147	332	63	62	40	115
New Hanover County Park (Carolina Lake)	145	977	110	83	53	87
Masonboro Inlet	141	1,535	102	105	68	68
New Hanover County Park (Lake Forest)	128	364	83	80	59	93
Fort Fisher State Historic Site (southeast)	123	531	96	69	42	67
New Hanover County Park (south)	105	417	90	42	30	71
Zekes Island Component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve	102	116	37	65	59	67
USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial	99	229	69	73	37	50
Wade Park	93	349	53	74	42	45
Mason Inlet (north)	86	105	48	60	60	48
New Hanover County Park (Devon Park)	81	90	64	47	32	30
Freeman Park	80	90	54	18	20	42
Masonboro Island Component of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve	76	59	20	42	25	37
New Hanover County Park (Pine Valley Estates)	71	224	40	51	27	40
New Hanover County Park (northeast)	71	133	51	40	27	46
New Hanover County Open Space	70	50	47	36	6	24
New Hanover County Park (Sea Breeze)	67	96	35	29	25	27
Trails End Park	60	61	23	42	12	7
New Hanover County Park (Winter Park)	58	94	37	40	30	33
New Hanover County Park (Harbor Island)	57	80	20	36	16	33
Kure Beach	53	141	35	25	18	16
Birding spot near Kure Beach	165	373	88	86	43	122
Birding spot near Kings Grant (Windemere)	105	127	68	71	15	49
Birding spot near Navassa	101	80	84	23	21	65
Birding spot near Kure Beach (north)	100	94	66	43	18	34
Birding spot near Wrightsville Beach	93	942	68	53	20	37
Birding spot near Wrightsville Beach (west)	85	196	54	54	36	32
Birding spot near Wrightsville Beach (Bradley Creek Point)	81	92	60	54	6	37
Birding spot near Hightsville	74	76	34	48	6	45
Birding spot near Kings Grant	62	194	21	30	44	16
Birding spot near Wilmington	56	102	34	42	21	26
Birding spot near Wrightsville Beach (Shell Island)	56	68	29	28	21	17
Birding spot near Wrightsville Beach (Lees Cut)	41	107	36	30	0	3