The Best Places in America to See Fall Bird Migrations

As waterfowl begin to move southward, they depend on two things to make their journey as smooth as possible: a good tail wind and favorable weather conditions. If wind starts blowing from the south, working against the migrating population, or if the weather becomes bad, the waterfowl will often drop down into inland lakes to wait for conditions to improve, which can provide bird watchers with an impromptu opportunity. "[Seeing birds in inland lakes] is real hit or miss," LeBaron says, "[but] it’s kind of exciting, like opening Christmas presents. You never know what's going to be where and when."

If you want to try to see waterfowl taking a rest in an inland lake this autumn, LeBaron suggests planning a visit to the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, which tends to attract birds in fairly high numbers. Over half a million Canada geese pass through the Montezuma Wetlands Complex, near Seneca Falls, during their yearly migration; peak migration occurs from September to October. If you can't make it to the Finger Lakes, but still want to roll the dice with seeing waterfowl migration, Sillett contends that any lake has the potential to come alive with migrating waterfowl during autumn months. "Any kind of lake can be really good in the fall," he says. "It can be hit or miss, but if the weather conditions are right and you get a lot of waterfowl that are driven down by a weather front, you can get really awesome concentrations of waterfowl in migration. 

Bosque del Apache in New Mexico offers fantastic bird-watching year round, but the area comes especially alive beginning in early November, when birds flock to the refuge in massive numbers to make their winter home. "It is a renowned spot on migrations because it's along the Rio Grande, and a lot of the countryside around there is very arid and dry," Sillett says. "The river system with its vegetation is really attractive to a lot of birds." The location offers an oasis of sorts for birds of all kinds, but especially waterfowl and cranes, which come to the area by the tens of thousands between early November and mid-February. 

Arriving at the Bosque del Apache refuge before sunrise affords visitors an amazing sight—the early morning fly-out, when thousands of geese leave the water in search of food from nearby fields. Before sunset, the ritual repeats in reverse, with the geese flying back to the water, en masse, to spend the night out of the reach of predators. 

In mid-November, the 57,331-acre refuge also hosts thousands of sandhill cranes, which come from their summer home in the arctic to spend the winter months in southern New Mexico. To celebrate the cranes' arrival, the refuge holds an annual "Festival of the Cranes" (this year slated for November 18-23), which honors both the yearly arrival of the cranes as well as the founding of the refuge.

In the autumn months, Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri is a veritable mecca for birdwatchers hoping to catch a glimpse of massive migratory flocks. Waterfowl come by the tens of thousands during the fall and spring to rest on their way to their winter or summer homes. During the fall, the area's wetlands attract as many as 400,000 snow geese, who share the mud flats and pools with many varieties of duck, from diving ducks to mallards.

But it's not just the colossal flocks of geese and ducks that make Squaw Creek special: in late fall and early winter, the area also serves as a winter home for migrating bald eagles, which have been seen by the hundreds in Squaw Creek. 

Located northeast of San Diego, the Salton Sea—California's largest lake—has a remarkable history: The area was formed in 1905 when massive flooding caused the Colorado River to break through a levee. The river was allowed to flow, unstopped, into the area for a year and a half, leaving 35,484 acres of water and salt marshes. Today, agricultural runoff accounts for 85 percent of the Salton Sea's inflow. As this water flows into the lake, it carries dissolved salt and minerals—and since there's no way for the water to drain out to the ocean, the water evaporates, leaving those salts and minerals behind.

Birds and wildlife congregate in huge numbers around the lake, despite its increasing salinity. "The Salton Sea is a bizarre spot. It's surrounded by really inhospitable, dry desert scrub, very barren of vegetation, and then you have this huge sea. You can imagine birds that are flying hundreds or even a couple thousand feet up, seeing this huge water body—it's an incredible attraction," Sillett says. 

The area supports a large amount of avian diversity—more than 375 types of birds have been seen in the Salton Sea or neighboring Imperial Valley. The salt marshes and water serve as an important habitat for waterfowl during their migration, providing them with shelter and food. During the winter, thousands of geese call the Salton Sea home. Ninety percent of the American white pelican population also spends its winter at Salton Sea.

With most places on this list, migratory flocks pass through regularly during the autumn migration season, meaning that a second visit to the same place (like Cape May) can offer exposure to a completely different set of birds.