Birding spots · South Carolina

Best Birding Spots in Beaufort County, South Carolina

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge leads Beaufort County's birding spots with 202 species reported, best in spring. 60 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
Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge	202	2,548	134	164	111	150
Cedar Reef Villas	190	523	120	125	92	161
Hunting Island State Park	170	641	111	120	96	131
Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin National Wildlife Refuge	170	489	108	152	46	116
Fish Haul Creek Park	155	593	106	110	71	94
Jarvis Creek Park	153	1,070	85	90	58	129
Widgeon Point (Lemon Island)	148	607	105	104	59	107
Cherry Hill Estates	141	335	86	103	71	102
Hunting Island State Park (Fripp Inlet)	140	514	87	98	62	102
Cypress Wetlands	138	1,741	92	121	72	100
Dolphin Head	138	484	95	116	83	88
Sands Beach	132	691	87	84	61	87
Pelican Point	132	420	72	94	79	109
Hunting Island State Park (northeast)	131	273	84	83	74	62
Shelter Cove Community Park	115	606	89	86	51	72
Crystal Lake	110	650	77	90	53	84
Lawton	110	452	86	82	52	53
Audubon Newhall Preserve	105	824	66	84	45	70
Burkes Beach Dunes and Marshland	97	236	67	58	34	49
Honey Horn	90	249	63	61	51	53
Coggin Creek	90	109	34	61	71	46
Whitehall Park	89	101	35	67	9	56
Coligny Beach Park	88	345	56	64	23	43
Whooping Crane Pond	87	349	63	67	27	47
Hunting Island State Park (south)	87	276	56	56	34	48
Folly Field Beach	84	179	57	38	20	38
Hunting Island State Park (Hunting Island Beach)	84	121	60	45	27	33
Hunting Island State Park (south)	84	67	40	42	22	52
Chaplin Community Park	82	115	44	49	41	47
Hunting Island State Park (northeast)	82	109	39	46	21	51
Palmetto Bluff	80	76	44	57	37	34
Heddy Gutter Creek	79	222	61	37	18	33
Hunting Island State Park (east)	69	58	38	47	20	1
Lighthouse Landing	67	83	35	35	29	30
Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge (Buzzard Island)	61	61	35	31	7	37
Broad River Boat Landing	57	64	38	15	10	34
Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve / Wildlife Management Area	53	59	20	33	13	18
Hunting Island State Park (Johnson Creek)	47	51	26	4	19	19
Birding spot near Hilton Head Island	192	2,804	127	157	120	146
Birding spot near Hilton Head Island (Lawton)	161	1,082	98	118	76	108
Birding spot near Sheldon	145	263	96	119	76	76
Birding spot near Fripp Island	143	351	90	110	73	79
Birding spot near Dale	141	97	83	95	39	75
Birding spot near Sheldon (southwest)	140	200	103	81	51	84
Birding spot near Shell Point	129	242	88	99	56	90
Birding spot near Harbor Island	120	203	66	77	75	78
Birding spot near Port Royal (Scout Island)	119	86	90	44	52	91
Birding spot near Hilton Head Island (Wood Lake)	111	356	81	90	54	80
Birding spot near Hilton Head Island (Indigo Run)	109	200	66	75	50	38
Birding spot near Sheldon (southwest)	108	61	66	35	49	36