Birdwatching

Four women birdwatching; all are looking through binoculars

Birding is popular because it’s easy to get started, and it offers increasingly greater rewards the more you learn. It’s also an inexpensive hobby — a field guide and pair of binoculars are all you need.

Read on for tips on how to get started identifying Missouri's birds around your home or out in the field. This section provides information on:

  • Birdwatching tools
  • Identifying birds
  • Bird behavior and habitats
  • Great places to watch birds in Missouri
  • MDC bird-related events
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Boy with binoculars
Featured Topics
Woman with Binoculars
Birding Tools

Learn about binoculars and field guides as well as birding apps and other helpful tools.

Photo of a prairie warbler perched on a red cedar sprig
Identifying Birds

Learn key features that will help you tell bird species apart.

Ebird app start screen
eBird

Upload and store your bird sightings in this online database and view sightings of other birders around the world. 

Great Missouri Birding Trail
Great Missouri Birding Trail

The Great Missouri Birding Trail was created to show birders the best places to find birds around the state. 

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Birds
Find links to all the bird-related webpages on our website.

Great Places For Birdwatching

Merrill Horse Access
Jefferson
Merrill Horse access is located on the Big River 5.40 river miles down-river from the Mammoth a
See more places for Bird Watching

Birding Events

Private Event | My Events | My Profile

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Birds: Paul Moffett-The Birds of the Confluence Area
Date: Thursday, June 1, 2023 8:00 am - Friday, June 30, 2023 4:00 pm
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center

These photos represent a portion of a collection of photos taken by Paul Moffett. Over the past eight years, Paul has turned this hobby into a passion and has photographed birds along twenty miles of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers through all the seasons of the year. This includes the areas along Columbia Bottom Conservation Area and the Audubon Center at Riverlands. Paul has also observed and photographed birds at Horseshoe Lake, throughout Calhoun County, and between Alton and Grafton in Illinois.

Paul has diligently set out almost daily with his camera to record the raptors, shore birds, waterfowl, and songbirds that migrate through this diverse habitat, along with those that make the confluence their home.

Birds: Bird Banding Demos with World Bird Sanctuary
Date: Friday, June 16, 2023 7:30 am - Friday, June 16, 2023 10:00 am
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join World Bird Sanctuary's bird banding team as they capture songbirds in mist nets, remove them, identify, band, weigh, sex, and age them before releasing back into the wild!
Birds: Our Nesting Birds
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2023 9:00 am - Tuesday, June 20, 2023 11:00 am
Location: Springfield Conservation Nature Center
Volunteer Naturalist Myra Scroggs will help you find common nesting birds during this indoor and outdoor program. Ages 7-adult.
Birds: Missouri Owls
Date: Monday, June 26, 2023 10:00 am - Monday, June 26, 2023 11:00 am
Location: Montgomery City Public Library - Montgomery County
Join us at the Montgomery City public library as we discuss Missouri Owls.
Birds: Bird Banding Demos with World Bird Sanctuary
Date: Friday, June 30, 2023 7:30 am - Friday, June 30, 2023 10:00 am
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join World Bird Sanctuary's bird banding team as they capture songbirds in mist nets, remove them, identify, band, weigh, sex, and age them before releasing back into the wild!
Birds: Bird Banding Demos with World Bird Sanctuary
Registration period: May 19 - July 14
Date: Friday, July 14, 2023 7:30 am - Friday, July 14, 2023 10:00 am
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join World Bird Sanctuary's bird banding team as they capture songbirds in mist nets, remove them, identify, band, weigh, sex, and age them before releasing back into the wild!
Birds: Bird Banding Demos with World Bird Sanctuary
Date: Friday, July 21, 2023 7:30 am - Friday, July 21, 2023 10:00 am
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Join World Bird Sanctuary's bird banding team as they capture songbirds in mist nets, remove them, identify, band, weigh, sex, and age them before releasing back into the wild!
Birds: VIRTUAL: Hummers of Summer
Registration period: June 8 - July 31
Date: Monday, July 31, 2023 6:00 pm - Monday, July 31, 2023 7:00 pm
Location: Online only
Want the buzz on hummingbirds? Join a naturalist to learn more about these captivating creatures, their habits, and how to attract them to your yard. Registration required. Registered participants will receive the program link both the day before and day of the program. All ages
Eagle Days

Missouri's winter eagle watching is spectacular. Find places to view eagles on your own, or join us at some of the many Eagle Days events scheduled around the state.

Eagle Days Events

There are no events scheduled at this time.