The Best Locations for Birdwatching in Vermont (14 must-see stops)

Although Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is one of the smallest states, it is packed with fantastic bird watching locations. The Green Mountains split the state from east to west, and Lake Champlain is found on its northwestern border with New York. 

This means there are plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities, from hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and of course, visits to see the state’s famous fall foliage.

And of course, there are countless opportunities to find the very best locations for bird watching in Vermont. Here are our 14 top choices across the state.

Birds of Vermont Museum – Best Birdwatching in Burlington

• Address: Birds of Vermont Museum, 900 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, Vermont 05462
• Hours: May through October, Weds – Sun, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. November thru April, open by appointment only or for special events 
• Cost:
  • Adults: $7
  • Seniors: $6
  • Children 3-17: $3.50
• Birds you’ll see: Check their blog for a detailed and frequently updated list.

Just 25 minutes from downtown Burlington, the Birds of Vermont Museum is a fantastic unique birding location! 

Their remote trails have little to no cell phone service, and dogs and horses are not permitted. This affords you the best opportunity to see rare and unique wild birds. While the area has steep terrain, there are also handicap accessible trails, a pond, and garden for bird observation. 

The museum offers frequent guided bird walks where experienced birders guide visitors around the property.

The Museum itself features over 500 wooden carvings of birds that are so lifelike, you might mistake them for the real deal.

Finally, they have bird feeders including a live birdcam. If you have time, stop by the Green Mountain Audubon Center less than a mile down the road.

You might also be interested in exploring the best birdwatching spots in Guatemala!

Birdseye Wildlife Management Area – Best place to see peregrine falcons

• Address: Birdseye Rd, Poultney, VT 05764 (you’ll find pull offs for parking in Birdseye Road and Finel Hollow Road)
• Cost: Free
• Birds you’ll see: peregrine falcons, warblers, grouse, turkeys, thrushes, sparrows

While it may be small, the Birdseye Wildlife Management Area (formerly known as the Bird Mountain WMA) features a large rock where peregrine falcons nest each season. Get a chance to view the fastest bird in the world each spring. And when it isn’t nesting season, visitors can even climb the rock to a cliff face for even better viewing.

Related post: The best places to view hawk migrations in Vermont

Button Bay State Park

• Address: Button Bay State Park, 5 Button Bay State Park Rd. Ferrisburgh, VT 05491
• Hours: May 27 – 2nd Monday in October
• Cost:
  • Adult (14+): $5
  • Children (4-13): $2
  • Small children (0-3): Free
• Birds you’ll see:

At Button Bay State Park, located along Lake Champlain, you’ll find a variety of paved, gravel, and dirt hiking and biking trails. Enjoy the beautiful scenery around the lake, including hardwood forests. It may be a bit busy as this is also a popular place for families interested in camping and hiking.

The Dead Creek Wildlife Area

• Address: Dead Creek Wildlife Area, 966 VT-17, Addison, VT 05491
• Cost: free
• Hours: May- November 
• Birds you’ll see: over 200 species, including ducks, shorebirds, hawks, falcons, and during spring and fall migration, snow geese

At the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area, you’ll find a huge variety of habitats and therefore a huge variety of birds. From clayplain forests, to wet meadows and cattail marshes, you’ll find raptors, turkeys, woodpeckers, bitterns, and more.

Along with hiking the trails, you can see birds in a canoe or kayak!

Green Mountain Audubon Center

• Address: Audubon Vermont, 255 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, VT 05462
• Cost: Free, $20 donation to join the Vermont Audubon Society. 
• Birds you’ll see: Blackburnian warbler, hermit thrush, red-eyed vireo, rose-breasted grosbeak, are the most common 

How could you visit Vermont and not stop by the Green Mountain Audubon Center? Home of the Vermont Audubon Society, it features five miles of trails through hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and the Huntington River where you’ll discover over 100 different species of birds. 

In late winter, visit the maple syrup sugar house, wildflower garden in the summer, and of course, stunning fall foliage. 

Related post: Birdwatching Etiquette 

Herrick’s Cove

• Address: 4 Herricks Cove Rd, Bellows Falls, VT 05101
• Cost: free
• Birds you’ll see: over 200 migratory bird species pass through each season, along with resident pied-billed grebes, American bitterns, sora, and Virginia rails.

Just outside Rockingham, Herrick’s Cove is at the confluence of the Williams River and Connecticut River, near Bellows Falls. It features wetlands, meadows, marshes, and floodplains. 

A variety of biomes means a variety of birds. Many migratory species stop in this area during spring and fall migration. 

Lake Champlain Birding Trail

The 300 mile long Lake Champlain Birding Trail connects 88 bird watching locations in Vermont and New York. You can find a map here. Here are some of the stops in Vermont:

• Alburgh Dunes State Park
  • 151 Coon Point Road
  • Alburgh, VT 05440
• Alburgh Rail Trail
  • 44.9753096, -73.2967846
• Birds of Vermont Museum
  • 900 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, Vermont 05462
• Bomoseen State Park
  • 22 Cedar Mountain Rd. Castleton, VT 05743
• Branbury State Park
  • 3570 Lake Dunmore Rd, Salisbury, VT 05769
• Burton Island State Park
  • Only accessible by boat. Access the ferry at 2714 Hathaway Point Rd, St. Albans, VT 05481
• Button Bay State Park
  • 5 Button Bay State Park Rd. Ferrisburgh, VT 05491
• Chimney Point Historic Site
  • Chimney Point State Historic Site, 8149 VT Route 17W, Addison, VT 05491
• Colchester Pond Natural Area
  • 660 Colchester Pond Rd, Colchester, VT 05446
• Cornwall Swamp Wildlife Management Area
  • Cornwall Swamp Wildlife Management Area, Cornwall, VT 05753
• D.A.R. State Park
  • 6750 VT RT 17 W, Addison, VT 05491
• Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area
  • 966 VT-17, Addison, VT 05491
• East Creek Wildlife Management Area 
• Ed Weed Fish Hatchery
  • 14 Bell Hill Rd, Grand Isle, VT 05458
• Ethan Allen Homestead
  • 1 Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington, VT 05408
• Fort Cassin Point
  • Fort Cassin Point, Ferrisburgh, VT 05456
• Grand Isle Ferry Dock
  • 1268 Gordons Landing, Grand Isle, VT 05458
• Green Mountain Audubon Center
  • Audubon Vermont, 255 Sherman Hollow Road, Huntington, VT 05462
• Half Moon Pond State Park
  • 1621 Black Pond Rd Hubbardton, VT 05743
• Helen Buckner Nature Preserve
  • 1500 Galick Rd, West Haven, VT 05743
• Kingsland Bay State Park
  • 787 Kingsland Bay State Park Rd. Ferrisburgh, VT 05456
• Knight Point State Park
  • 44 Knight Point Rd. North Hero, VT 05474
• ECHO (formerly Lake Champlain Basin Science Center)
  • 1 College St., Burlington, VT 05401
• Lake St Catherine State Park
  • 3034 VT Rte. 30 Poultney, VT 05764
• Laplatte River Marsh Natural Area
  • Laplatte River Marsh Natural Area, Bay Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482
• Little Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area
  • Little Otter Creek Wildlife Management Area, State Forest Rd, Ferrisburgh, VT 05456
• Macrae Farm State Park
  • 1136 Macrae Rd, Colchester, VT 05446
• Mccuen Slang Waterfowl Area
  • Mccuen Slang Waterfowl Area, Addison, VT 05491
• Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge
  • 29 Tabor Road Swanton, VT 05488-8159

LaPlatte River Marsh Natural Area

• Address: Laplatte River Marsh Natural Area, Bay Rd, Shelburne, VT 05482
• Cost: free
• Birds you’ll see: common mergansers, black crowned night herons, kingfishers, ospreys, blue herons

The LaPlatte River ends at Lake Champlain at the Laplatte River Marsh Natural Area, while its source is 16 miles away in Lake Iroquois. Over sixty different birds make their home here and hundreds more migrate through each spring and fall. 

Bring a canoe or kayak and paddle the waterways to discover waterfowl. Or hike the 1 mile trail to visit ten different stations throughout a variety of ecosystems. 

Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge – The best birdwatching location in Vermont to find an endangered species

• Address: 29 Tabor Road Swanton, VT 05488-8159
• Cost:
• Hours: Open year round, dawn to dusk
• Birds you’ll see: wood ducks, mallards, green-winged teals, ring-neck ducks, bobolinks, meadowlarks, bitterns, snipes, and the endangered black tern

The Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge was established as a habitat for migratory birds. It features five pedestrian trails with boardwalks covering 7.5 miles, two boat ramps, and a Jeep trail you can use to explore the wetlands around the Missisquoi River and Lake Champlain. 

Many birders search for the black tern, an endangered bird. These birds nest in floating mats, and raise their young within the Missiquoi refuge. Or visit on the third Saturday in May for International Migratory Bird Day, park open house, and exhibits from local artists and photographers.

Moose Bog, Wenlock Wildlife Refuge – The flattest park in Vermont

• Address: 05846 VT-105, Island Pond, VT 05846
• Cost: free
• Birds you’ll see: ring necked ducks, black ducks, mallard ducks, hooded mergansers, spruce grouse, black-backed woodpeckers, gray jays, Cape May warblers

At the Moose Bog portion of the Wenlock Wildlife Refuge, you’ll find over 2,500 acres of wilderness. This site used to house logging operations and a steam-powered saw mill. Some logging occurs on the lands near the refuge, but the refuge itself has returned to wilderness. 

In addition to the species above, you’ll find ruffed grouse, rusty blackbirds, blackpoll warblers, and whitewinged crossbills. And you may be lucky enough to spot a raptor like a goshawk, marsh hawk, sharp-shinned hawk, barred owl, or great horned owl.

Unlike many of the other birding sites in Vermont, Moose Bog features level terrain. And this portion of the park is boreal forest, meaning you’ll see some different species than you will around Lake Champlain.

North Branch Nature Center – The best birding in Montpelier, Vermont 

• Address: North Branch River Park, 58 Barre St, Montpelier, VT 05602 
• Cost: Free, open 24/7
• Birds you’ll see: American redstarts, savannah sparrows, belted kingfishers, wood ducks, hooded mergansers, ruffed grouse, American woodcocks

Just 2 miles from downtown Montpelier, you’ll discover the North Branch Nature Center, and miles of hiking trails from flat to hilly

Each spring, they offer a birding course for all areas of expertise. 

And if you visit on Friday mornings, be sure to join a guided bird walk (free for members). Or sign up for a tour of the best birding spots in Vermont, or even an international birding trip.

Pomainville Wildlife Management Area

• Address: 7551 US-7 #7417, Sudbury, VT 05733
• Cost: Free
• Birds you’ll see: mallards, black ducks, wood ducks, bittern, bobolinks, meadowlarks, savannah sparrows, wild turkeys

Visit Pomainville Wildlife Management Area along the banks of Otter Creek and walk old farm roads. You’ll see nesting grassland birds, and maybe bats, and a variety of turtles, frogs, salamanders, and newts.

Related post: Best Spots for Birdwatching in Alaska

West Rutland Marsh – The best place to find a Least Bittern

• Address: West Rutland Marsh, Water St, West Rutland, VT 05777
• Cost: Free
• Birds you’ll see: Virginia rails, sora, American bitterns, marsh wrens, least bitterns, winter wrens, red-breasted nuthatches, bluebirds, tree swallows, cedar waxwings, sedge wrens. 

West Rutland Marsh has been designated an Important Bird Area of Vermont. Two boardwalks span this wetland, as well as Hemlock Island, and a wet meadow. 

Woodside Natural Area

• Address: Woodside Natural Area, Woodside Dr, South Burlington, VT 05403
• Cost:free
• Birds you’ll see: eastern wood pewees, wood ducks, pileated woodpeckers, Baltimore orioles

The Woodside Natural Area is a birding hotspot in Vermont. It features a one mile loop trail around a beaver dam, wetland, and pond, where you’ll certainly see a variety of bird species in a compact area.

Related post: Best Places for Birdwatching in Delaware

Frequently asked questions about birdwatching in Vermont 

Resources for Birding in Vermont

• Champlain Valley Wildlife Viewing Checklist  (pdf)
• Vermont Audubon Society
• Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department 
• Vermont Center for Eco Studies
• Birding Hotspots