Birding spots · Oregon

Best Birding Spots in Union County, Oregon

Thief Valley Reservoir leads Union County's birding spots with 193 species reported, best in fall. 33 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
Thief Valley Reservoir	193	813	47	145	149	153
Morgan Lake (Twin Lake)	147	480	30	86	86	108
Hot Lake Reservoir	131	495	36	99	96	59
Ladd Marsh (southeast)	119	171	21	76	84	41
Wolf Creek Reservoir	115	125	0	30	41	84
Whitman National Forest (south)	95	169	2	74	73	31
Hot Lake Reservoir (west)	94	273	37	64	63	24
Ladd Marsh	94	193	23	59	61	29
Pyles Canyon Reservoir Number Two	92	200	4	29	48	66
Hilgard Junction State Park	82	214	8	42	72	21
Red Bridge State Wayside	82	148	10	53	70	20
Riverside Park (Owsley Canyon)	81	282	22	55	55	32
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area (Hot Lake Reservoir)	76	112	14	52	41	15
Whitman National Forest	70	190	0	55	53	20
Catherine Creek State Park	68	110	6	47	46	2
Benton Park	66	207	24	42	36	27
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area	58	149	2	57	0	0
Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area (Gekeler Slough)	58	97	5	52	3	0
Jubilee Lake National Recreation Trail	58	75	0	0	41	34
Whitman National Forest (South Fork Spring Creek)	56	96	0	39	42	12
Candy Cane Park	38	181	21	16	12	20
Whitman National Forest (Moss Spring)	38	53	0	4	31	17
Island City	37	93	11	13	0	23
Birding spot near Union	172	1,067	54	158	84	33
Birding spot near Island City	168	1,675	54	108	113	137
Birding spot near Union (Gekeler Slough)	145	523	27	109	116	93
Birding spot near Elgin	133	469	34	110	91	74
Birding spot near La Grande	124	770	37	104	82	67
Birding spot near Elgin (Indian Creek)	109	267	22	91	85	31
Birding spot near Island City (northeast)	102	578	23	101	25	0
Birding spot near Union (Hot Lake)	90	59	17	25	45	52
Birding spot near Union (Pond Slough)	56	112	9	44	45	0
Birding spot near Cove	38	72	16	27	6	5