White Pelicans of Marsh Lake

White pelicans nest at Marsh Lake, which is part of Lac qui Parle State Park. The once common bird was wiped out completely in 1868. A century passed before a new colony was discovered on Chase Lake in 1968. The Big Island colony has seen 10,000 birds at once. They arrive in mid-April, engage in a courtship dance. According to photographer Dominique Braud, "one female and several bachelor males fly in large circles, riding the thermals over the island during the hot hours of the day." Most eggs are layed by early May, but stragglers go on for a month. Pelicans lay two eggs on the ground on nests close to each other.
About 1/2 mile north of Watson on U.S. 59 and Hwy 7, then west on Chippewa County Road 13.
(320) 734-4450

Bluestem State Park, MN

The Bluestem Prairie Scientific and Natural Area attracts the greater prairie chicken (a Minnesota species of 'special concern') to dance on the prairie in  by the State). You need to make reservations with the Nature Conservancy to use the blinds in April. Sandhill cranes also visit the preserve. 15337 28th Ave S, Glyndon, MN (218) 498-2679

Chicago Parrots

Monk Parrot nests have been spotted all around the University of Chicago area and Jackson Park.
The parrots living in Harold Washington Park were the ones that convinced the late Mayor Washington, who used to live on the park, to give them a reprieve from state agriculture officials who wanted to exterminate them. Giant nests are easy to spot.
Hyde Park Blvd. and 53rd Street

Critter Camp

Critter Camp takes in all the small odd-ball pets that people get without thinking it through and gives them a permanent sanctuary. You can set up an appointment for up to 6 people and visit 20 ferrets, a kinkajou, fenec fox, degus, parrots, turtles, sugar gliders and everything else. You can either donate or do some volunteer work to visit.
824 Church St., German Valley (near Rockford), IL815-266-1342

Illinois Pelicans

Since about the year 2000 white pelicans have been visiting the area around Sugar Grove in the spring for about a month. Up to 300 birds visit, creating a local spectacle. Usually they stay at Nelson Lake in the Dick Young Forest Preserve, but in 2010 they moved to Carson Slough, a few miles to the south.

Sugar Grove Nature Center - Southern IL

The Sugar Grove Nature Center has neat nature events throughout the year, including a hummingbird festival in September and talks on frogs and butterflies. They've gotten a local hummingbird banding expert to give demonstrations and talks.
4532 North 725 East Rd., Mc Lean, IL (near Bloomington) (309) 874-2174

Lake Hope State Park - OH

Lake Hope State Park is the longest hummingbird festival in the country: it goes on for all of July and August. Plus, you get to feed hummingbirds by hand from a tube. It's every Wed-Sun, from 1-4. The event started around 2000 when Dave Sapienza was holding a feeder and a hummingbird didn't mind. Visitors joined in and the event took off.
(740)596-5253
Bonus species: beaver, deer, turkey, turtle

Hinkley Buzzards - OH

Hinckley Preservation is known for its Hinckley Buzzards (turkey vultures). They circle over the park all summer and roost there, too. Part of the Cleveland park system, Hinkley has a big party for the return of the buzzards every March 15. The Ohio Ornithological Society says that everyone thinks you should look for them at Whipps Ledges, but don't be fooled. You want to go to West Drive and try either the Redwing picnic area or the  “Buzzard Roost” parking lot.

Auburn, NY

Auburn, NY, has had lots of crows in cold weather since the early 1900s, but in recent decades the town has become notorious for trying to get rid of them with crow shoots. Around 25,000 to 50,000 crows can roost in and around Auburn in fall and winter, though some say that in recent years some have moved to Syracuse. Cornell ornithologists say there are many theories on why these clever birds roost together--from it's just a great spot, to protection in numbers to information sharing. A Light in the Darkness suggests looking around the river. Check out crows.net for more roost locations.

Boston White Geese

A flock of white and grey geese have managed to survive year-round in Boston's Charles River near Cambridge thanks to a group of dedicated friends. The Charles River Urban Wilds Initiative brings them food and protect them from the threat of eviction. No one is exactly clear on how and when they arrived--whether it was 1981 as guard ducks or 1950. Look for them near the Boston University Bridge.

Chase Lake NWR - ND

Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge has one of biggest nesting colonies of white pelicans in the country. In 2007, they counted 22,524 birds, down from 34,604 the year before.
Pelicans were spotted at the lake as early as 1863 and were nearly hunted to extinction. By 1905 there were only 500. In 1908 Teddy Roosevelt made Chase Lake the 15th National Wildlife Refuge.
From April to September you need a permit to enter the refuge to see the pelicans.
5924 19th St SE, Woodworth, ND (701) 752-4218

Cheyenne Bottoms, KS

Cheyenne Bottoms is a mid-point rest stop for 45% of migrating birds in the Western Hemisphere. Whooping cranes, Sandhill cranes, pelicans, and are among the 320 species spotted here.That's why the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network named Cheyenne Bottoms of an important site for the whole hemisphere, the only one in the midwest. They count 619,047 birds for the spring and 273,308 for the fall. The state keeps an excellent calendar of when to expect each species. The Quivira National Wildlife Refuge is nearby and can be reached on the Wetlands and Wildlife Scenic Byway.
56 NE 40 Road, Great Bend, KS (620) 793-3066

Sullys Hill NWR

Bison, elk and white-tailed deer were re-introduced to Sullys Hill in 1917 and 1918. The bison herd is kept at under 30, about the same number as the elk. Black-tailed prairie dogs were introduced in 1975. The preserve, which was originally a National Park, has an annual birding and nature festival. White pelicans are common in spring and summer. You may also see tundra swan, avocet or harrier.
Take 57 south 13 miles from Devil's Lake, turn south on BIA-6. (701) 766-4272

Glacier Bay National Park

Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve

The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve near Haines, Alaska, has the biggest concentration of bald eagles in the world--about 4,000 over four miles of river. Every year thousands of eagles catch salmon from fall to February on the Chilkat River "flats" about 20 miles north of Haines on Route 7. The American Bald Eagle Foundation holds the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival in early November with lots of photography seminars, wildlife demonstrations and tours and art events.
The foundation suggests that while you give the eagles and fish plenty of space. Local etiquette: Stay off the flats and watch the eagles from the area between the highway and river. Use public or group transportation. Only use turn-outs to stop.
Haines Visitors Bureau (907) 766-2234
Alaska Bald Eagle Festival  (907) 766-3094

Yellow-Beaked Magpie

Yellow-Beaked Magie, the only species of bird found only in California. (There's a black-billed one on the other side of the Sierra Nevadas.) They're only found in the central valley to northern California, like Sacramento's Effie Yeaw Nature Center - American River Parkway or Los Alamos Park. Audubon California told the Lompoc Record that Magpies are found Buellton, the Santa Ynez Valley and the rural areas east of Santa Maria and southern San Luis Obispo County. They like oak woodlands.
Magpies are especially susceptible to climate change and West Nile Virus, which has decimated populations. CA Audubon did a 2009 survey that found them most prevalent in Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Yolo counties. They have friends in a group called Magpie Monitor, which is keeping track of nests.

California Condors

Central California's Pinnacles National Monument has 23 reintroduced California condors that mix with about the same number who live at Big Sur.
The last 27 condors were captured by 1987 for a captive breeding program. The current population is about 350, roughly half of which are wild, the Ventana Wildlife Society says. Here's their neat map of where condors live.
Condors are still dying because hunters refuse to stop using lead bullets, denying any link to problems of lead poisoning.
Roughly two dozen condors live around Big Sur.  Birder Don Roberson recommends looking for roosts (where they sleep overnight) along Highway 1 from Andrew Molera State Park down to the pullouts near the Big Sur River. Look for vultures; condors may be flying with them looking for carrion.

Honolulu Feral Parrots

A flock of Mexican red-headed Amazons is seen in the Newtown Estates section of Honolulu, according to the Honolulu Star Bulletin. The flock of hundreds also flies over Pearl City.

Halaekala National Park

Haleakala National Park is home to the rarest goose in the world, the Nēnē or Hawaiian Goose. There were once only 17 birds; now there's more than 1,000. The park has different habitats and also gets more tropical looking birds, like the honeycreeper.

Lake Kissimmee Whooping Cranes

Kissimmee Lake and the Kissimmee prairie is where 37 endangered Whooping Cranes live in a non-migratory flock.
This flock, started in 1993. By 2004 four cranes fledged in the wild from captive-bred parents.
The whooping crane population dwindled from 1,400 whooping cranes in 1860 to only 15 birds in 1941, all in one flock that migrates between the Arnasas NWR in Texas and the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
Not wanting to put all their crane eggs in that one basket, conservationists tried to create two new flocks. One migrates between Wisconsin and Florida. This flock just stays put in Florida.
Until 1940, there was a non-migratory flock in Louisiana.
The birds are considered rare even in Kissimmee State Park.
Kissimmee Prairie Preserve is 25 miles north Okeechobee. It's 5 miles north of the western end of Okeechobee County Road 724. US Hwy 441 and Okeechobee County Road 700A intersect County Road 724.
The ramp on this map is where one photographer found them. (863) 462-5360

Chassahowitzka NWR Whooping Cranes

The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is the winter home to a flock of endangered whooping cranes and a bold experiment in wildlife re-introduction.
Started in 2000, this flock spends summers in Necedah NWR in Wisconsin.
According to the Whooping Crane Conservation Association, this flock has 74 birds and four adult pairs. The goal is 25 pairs by 2020.
Only two other flocks exist in the country. A non-migratory flock in Florida near Kissimee (at an undisclosed location) and a flock that migrates between the Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf coast of Texas.
Operation Migration raises the birds with crane puppets so they won't imprint on humans, then guides them on the migration route with ultra-light aircraft.
The park is also a good place to see manatees, who cluster in the warm water of spring-fed Crystal River January to March.

1502 SE Kings Bay Dr., Crystal River, FL (352) 563-2088

St. Mark's NWR - FL Panhandle

Florida Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbills aren't endangered, but most of them like in Latin America, so in the U.S., they're quite rare. They can only be found in southern Florida and the tip of Texas. eBird shows Estero Bay as a likely place to see these tall, pink birds. Florida Fish and Wildlife says you might also want to try the JN Ding Darling NWR, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Lover's Key State Park and Everglades National Park: Park Headquarters to Flamingo.
The Great Florida Birding Trail recommends:
Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve
E. G. Simmons Park
Everglades National Park: Main Entrance and Shark Valley
Fort De Soto County Park
J. N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands at Viera (Viera Wetlands)
Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West
Stormwater Treatment Area 5
Upper Tampa Bay Park

Arahuac NWR

The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge outside Houston is one of the few places in the U.S. to see the roseate spoonbill--the tall, pink wading bird with the shoveler bill. The refuge and the Bolivar Peninsula are good spots, according to eBird, though they can be found just about anywhere on the Texas coast.
Bonus species: whistling ducks, herons, humminbirds, snow geese, alligator, bobcat.

Rockport Hummingbird Festival

Rockport, TX, had one of the first hummingbird festivals in the country. Hummingbird.net says "this is the big one!" The Rockport-Fulton Chamber says you might see 100 birds in one yard. 361-729-6445

Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR

Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR was set up to save the Attwater species of prairie chicken, which used to roam Texas and Louisiana, but dwindled to just 1,000.
Bonus species: Bison, sandhill crane, armadillo, alligator
FM 3013 Road, Eagle Lake, TX
(979) 234-3021

Brownsville Parrots

The southern tip of Texas has a big parrot population. Complicating the usual myth and mystery about how these parrot colonies start, at least some of these birds moved here on their own from Mexico. Trails.com says that three species live here: Green Parakeet and Red-crowned and Yellow-headed. World Birding Center gives precise locations in different towns. Since they moved here on their own, in 1988 they got designated as natives.

Burnaby, BC

Burnaby, BC, which is right next to Vancouver, is known for its big crow roosts. They've celebrated their crows with art projects and fretted when construction of a Costco interfered with their crows, which are found along Still Creek.

Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada's largest park, is the summer home to the largest and only naturally occurring flock of Whooping Cranes. But they are generally off limits to visitors.
They nest in the "remote boggy reaches of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada, far from human disturbance," the park says.
The Whooping Crane Conservation Association says this flock has 266 birds as of 2008.

The park also has the world's biggest self-regulating wild herd of buffalo: more than half of Canada's population of 10,000.
You can reach the park off Highway 5 (gravel road) near Hay River, NT, from the  MacKenzie Highway.
Visitor, Fort Smith (867) 872-7960
24 hr hotline: (867) 872-7962
Fort Chipewyan Office / Visitor Reception Centre (780) 697-3662

Nova Scotia Puffins

Whale cruises from West Brier Island out into the Bay of Fundy may get you to see whales, dolphins, seabirds and a colony of seals and Atlantic puffins. July-fall is the peak.
In the fall, shorebirds and raptors often stop at the island. Mariner Cruises Whale & Seabird Tours
(902) 839-2346 LATE SPRING: Finback Whales, Minke Whales and Harbour Porpoises
JUNE: Humpback Whales return along with White-sided Dolphins

Newfoundland Puffins

Newfoundland's symbol is the puffin and it calls itself the Seabird Capital of the World. The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve has the biggest puffin colony in North America, about a quarter million puffins. The reserve is four islands that you reach by boat. The park has a list of approved guides and boat tours leave from many shore towns. The area is just half an hour from St. John's. During the summer nesting season there are some restrictions. (709) 635-4520

You can also see puffins from the shore of Elliston on Bird Island. There are tours available from a biologist from the company Natural Wonders. He boasts: "This is one of the best places in North America to view puffins!!!" You can also check out the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site. Don't expect to see one, but biologist Jonathan Joy notes that Newfoundland is the giant squid capital of the world.
Bonus: whales, icebergs, guillemots, petrels, eagles, osprey

Monster Blue Jays of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island loves its blue jays, which are practically the size of pigeons and quite bold and friendly. The owner of Forest and Stream Cottages even gets them to eat out of his hand (and teaches guests how, too)
446 Fox River Road, Murray Harbour, PEI (800) 227-9943

Colca Canyon, Peru

Cañón Del Colca in southern Peru near Arequepa is where people make a special trip to see enormous and threatened Andean Condors soar.

Iceland Puffins

You can see puffins swimming if you just go out on a whale watch from Rekjavik. Or you can go to their huge colonies.

Vestmannaeyjar, an island south of Iceland, is a puffin paradise. Every May puffins return here to mate and nest. Then in August the babies often get bedazzled by the city lights and fly into town, where the children of Heimaey make a practice of collecting them in boxes and rescuing them.
About 8-10 million Atlantic puffins live in Iceland, about half the world population.
You can also try cliffs of Látrabjarg on the mainland or the islands of Breiðafjörður and Lundey ( Puffin Island), which is just miles from Reykjavik. Icelanders regularly eat puffins--except those in Hornbjarg and in the Natural Reserve Park of Hornstrandir.

RSPB Leighton Moss

The RSPB's reserve at Leighton Moss is where a huge colony of bitterns nest. Red deer are seen in fall. You might also see harriers hunting over the wetland.
01524 701601 Carnforth, Lancashire

New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park

The New Forest Otter Owl & Wildlife Park near Southampton breeds otters, takes in orphaned otters and has vastly more animals that its name suggests.
Bonus animals: pine martens, polecats, minks, stoats, badgers, red foxes, northern lynx, Scottish wildcats, hedgehogs, wallabies, wild boar and deer.
02380 292408

Loch Garden Nature Preserve

The Loch Garten Nature Reserve is one of the most popular places to see wildlife in the UK. The harriers are the stars and are often followed by webcam.
The very rare and endangered capercaillie (a kind of grouse) nests here, but less than 2,000 are left. They breed at leks in April and May and can sometimes be seen on early morning treks then.
Nethy Bridge, Boat of Garten, 01479 831476

Hamburg Swans

Every year for centuries Hamburg moves its 120-some swans to a nice winter pond where they keep the ice from freezing.You can also rent a duck or swan boat to go out on the pond and river in nice weather. In summer you can see the swans all around Hamburg.

Flying of the Eagles

Flying of the Eagles near Kintzheim was France's first raptor park when it started in 1968. That's when we first started realizing the crisis of reduced populations of raptors everywhere--due to both pollutants like DDT and centuries-old prejudices against hunting birds.
This park lets you see eagles very close up in flying shows and reintroduces raptors to the wild.
They have assembled HUGE collection of eagles, vultures, condors from around the world. Check out the Vautour de Pondichéry or the African Eagle. They have a lot of birds you won't see at U.S. raptor centers.Château de Kintzheim
67600 KINTZHEIM (+33)3 88 92 84 33

Carmague, France Flamingos

Carmague, a French park on the Mediterranean, is one of the best wildlife spots in France. It's one of just a handful of places in Europe to see flamingos and it also has wild horses.

Vulture Look-Out

Pyrennes National Park

The Pyrenees National Park is the last hold-out for many species that otherwise would've been wiped out in Europe. Right on the border with Spain, the park holds the last six Pyrenean bear, the isard. In the summer Egyptian vulture visits.

Center for the Reproduction of Storks and Otters

The gorgeous village of Hunawihr host a center for reintroducing storks, the icon of Alcase. The 12-acre site is also working on otters. It's nextdoor to a botanical garden that has a butterfly garden.Hunawihr is on the Alsace Wine Route