Seven Top Birdwatching Hotspots Around the Globe
Travelers plan trips around everything from celebrity chefs to world‑class art shows, but a growing number of millennials and Gen Zers are choosing feathers as their guide. Recent research links birdwatching to sharper cognition and better mental health, a trend that inspired Vogue’s November issue to head to Bar Harbor, Maine, for a fashion‑forward birding shoot with ornithologist Michael Good. If you’re curious about following the flock, here are seven destinations that draw more from the Merlin bird‑identification app than from any Michelin guide.
Mediterranean Europe – Sicily
Naturalist Andrea Corso hauls his Leica scope through the heat of Sicily’s Vendicari Nature Reserve, noting that “Merlin gets so many birds wrong.” He watches as a neon‑pink flock of Greater Flamingos glides across the brackish lagoon, while grebes dive, avocets wade, and egrets and herons hunt nearby. The lagoon serves as a vital stopover for birds traveling between Europe and Africa, creating a constantly shifting avian cast. Corso, a leading raptor and dragonfly expert, drove an hour from Siracusa to meet us at the park’s entrance, a landscape ringed by coastal ruins and Roman salt ponds.
Flamingos also appear in the Camargue near Avignon, but Sicily adds a Baroque village backdrop and a chance to explore a lesser‑known stretch of coastline. Archaeologists suspect the rocky shore once housed Roman torture pits with carnivorous eels. The island’s birdlife thrives beyond the lagoon; the Iblean Plateau and the forests around Sortino host owls and other species. Visitors staying near the reserve can lodge at Il San Corrado di Noto, a boutique hotel set in the historic estate of Prince Nicolaci, with white‑washed suites, citrus groves and two saltwater pools. At dusk, two species of swift perform aerial ballets over Noto’s bustling trattorias.
Central America – Monteverde, Costa Rica
In the cloud forests of Monteverde’s private reserve Curi‑Cancha, tourists gather each August morning hoping to spot the iconic Resplendent Quetzal. While they wait, they encounter a parade of other avian celebrities: rainbow‑billed Keel‑billed Toucans flit through the canopy, scarlet macaws linger nearby, and endemic hummingbirds dart among the flowers. The true surprise, however, is the Three‑wattled Bellbird, whose male produces a 100‑decibel, mechanical screech that echoes through the forest, complete with three black tentacular wattles dangling from its beak.
Andrés Valverde, who curates experiences at the nearby Savia reserve, encourages travelers to move “away from checklists” and treat observation as an art form, allowing the forest’s sensations to wash over them. He believes this mindful approach has therapeutic benefits. Savia is linked to Hotel Belmar, a family‑run eco‑lodge that has welcomed nature lovers since the 1980s, championing sustainable tourism, regenerative farming and farm‑to‑table dining long before the terms became popular. Two‑thirds of the nine‑acre property is cloud forest, offering chances to watch resident parakeets from a juice‑bar balcony or spot a motmot while lounging by a private plunge pool.
East Africa – Tsavo West National Park, Kenya
A classic African safari can shift perspectives in profound ways, but not every traveler seeks big‑cat photography. My husband and I discovered early on that we preferred the unexpected: a sudden encounter with a Secretarybird made us gasp, and we would have gladly spent half an hour beneath an acacia watching a massive Verreaux’s Eagle‑Owl blink its pink‑tinged eyelids. Tsavo West National Park accommodates this quieter style of adventure. Its varied ecosystems allow visitors to linger in open grasslands, dense riverine woodlands and volcanic landscapes, offering ample opportunities to observe a wide range of bird species without the pressure of chasing lions.