The Natural State offers great places to bird throughout the year.
Use eBird's exploration tools to find hotspots and species. It’s also a great place to electronically store your bird lists.
Arkansas's Important Bird Areas are birding destinations because they host significant concentrations of birds as well as rare species.
Audubon Society of Central Arkansas offers a list of local hotspots.
Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society has detailed accounts of their favorite places to bird.
Here are suggestions for finding some of Arkansas's sought-after specialty species (explore eBird for details).
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - Millwood Lake, Arkansas Post National Memorial, Mississippi Levee Rd., Alma Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Mottled Duck - Mississippi Levee Rd., marshes and rice fields in the southeast counties.
Trumpeter Swan - Magness Lake and nearby ponds, Holla Bend NWR, Boxley Mill Pond.
Least Tern - public use areas along the Arkansas, Mississippi, and Red Rivers, including the Mississippi Levee Rd. and Lake Dardanelle.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - Oauchita NF's Pine-Bluestem Buffalo Rd., Felsenthal NWR, Warren Prairie Natural Area, Pine City Natural Area.
Swainson's Warbler - White River NWR, Buffalo National River, St. Francis Sunken Lands WMA.
Painted Bunting - Grandview Prairie WMA, shrubby areas in parks and other natural areas along the Arkansas River from Little Rock to Fort Smith, plus the Ozark prairie region of Northwest Arkansas.
Rusty Blackbird - Cache River, White River, Felsenthal, Bald Knob, and Wapanocca NWRs; low-lying flooded woods throughout the state.
Arkansas birder and author Mel White has suggestions for additional places to bird.