From bald eagles to spoonbills, from condors to puffins, birds abound on national wildlife refuges. Refuges provide places for birds to nest, rest, feed and breed making them world-renown for their birding opportunities.

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Students birdwatching
Spring migration continues to roll along as upwards of 3 billion birds make their way north toward their summertime breeding grounds. “Hold on,” you might be saying. Maybe you are new to birding and wondering how to get started. Perhaps you’ve been an appreciator of birds for a while, but are...
A young Black woman wearing a backpack and holding binoculars and smiling, looks off into the distance under a cloudy blue sky.
Birding doesn't have to be a solo activity. Here are some tips on how to find others who share your fascination with birds,
Four tan-black-and-white birds with long gray bills probing sand for food at the beach
For experienced birders and newbies alike, national wildlife refuges are wonderful places to see birds in natural habitat. Visitor services specialist Mike Carlo shares his mental list of refuges across the country that are well suited to people of varying birding experience.
Large numbers of snow geese fly out at sunrise into an orange sky reflected in the water below at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.
For a wonderful nature show, it’s hard to beat a bird festival. Some of the best bird fests occur at or near national wildlife refuges. That’s not surprising, given that these public lands are such birdy places.
Young children birding at San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge
96 million birdwatchers. $279 billion in economic impact. Explore the latest insights from the Office of Conservation Investment's Addendum to the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, Birding in the United States: A Demographic and Economic Analysis.

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