Birding Spots
Where to go around Memphis. Start with the Big Five.
The Big Five
Overton Park Old Forest
Midtown
126 acres of old-growth upland hardwood forest — the most accessible true old-growth in the mid-South. Loud with birdsong spring through fall; famous for warbler migration in late April and May.
Shelby Farms Park
East Memphis
4,500 acres — one of the largest urban parks in the U.S. Grasslands, lakes, woodland edges, and the Shelby Farms bluebird trail. Huge habitat diversity.
Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park
NW of Memphis
13,000 acres of Mississippi River bluffland — hardwood bottomlands and upland oak-hickory ridges. Quiet, big, birdy.
Wolf River Greenway
North Memphis / Germantown / Collierville
Bottomland cypress-tupelo swamp + hardwood forest — the best bottomland birding in the metro. Prothonotary Warbler heartland.
Mississippi River Bluffs & Tom Lee Park
Downtown riverfront
Migration corridor views + waterbirds. American White Pelicans in winter, Mississippi Kites downtown in summer, Bald Eagles Nov–Feb.
Other spots
Lichterman Nature Center
East Memphis
65 acres managed for wildlife — ponds, forests, feeders. Great intro spot for families and kids.
T.O. Fuller State Park
South Memphis
1,138 acres · underbirded · similar bottomland habitat to Meeman-Shelby but smaller and closer.
Ensley Bottoms / President's Island
South Memphis
Agricultural + wetland edges along the Mississippi — the shorebird spot of metro Memphis.
Day trips beyond Memphis
Different ecosystem, different birdsMontgomery Bell State Park
Dickson County, Middle TN · ~180 mi · 3 hr drive east via I-40
3,700 acres of rolling upland hardwood forest, hemlock ravines, and gravel-bottom streams on the Western Highland Rim — a completely different ecosystem from Memphis bottomlands. Classic habitat for Wood Thrush, Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Wild Turkey.