By Connie LimonArticle Word Count: 867src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
News of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker confirmation of being alive, a bird considered by many to be extinct, brought worldwide attention to the Big Woods region of Eastern Arkansas in April of 2005. Bird watching enthusiasts from all over flocked to the state for bird watching. Do you like to bird watch? If so, the Big Woods region of eastern Arkansas should be added to your list of vacation ideas!
Majestic Bald Eagles were found on Arkansas’ larger lakes and rivers. The state has also been known as a place where the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker often visits and perhaps lives currently.
The birds mentioned here only represent a very small portion of the year-round opportunities for bird watching in Arkansas. The Arkansas Audubon Society maintains a list of birds observed living in the state of about 400 species. This number includes rarely seen coastal, oceanic and western birds that stray from their normal lands. Some notable recent bird sightings include:
• Tufted Duck
• Broad-billed Hummingbird
• Scott’s Oriole
There are six species now extinct in Arkansas or else extirpated from the state, however, there are more than 310 species observed regularly in the appropriate season. Arkansas is a bird watchers paradise. If this is one of your favorite pastimes, add the Big Woods region of eastern Arkansas to your vacation ideas next time vacation rolls around for you.
Permanent residents of the open pinelands of Arkansas include the:
• Red-cockaded Woodpecker
• Brown-headed Nuthatch
• Bachman’s Sparrow
In addition, Henslow’s Sparrows can be found in small numbers in the prairies in the northern half of the state in summer and in the southern half in winter. Small numbers of Rufous-crowned Sparrows live along south-facing bluffs of certain mountains. Mount Magazine may represent the eastern-most populations of this species in the world.
Winter brings a variety of species to Arkansas that includes:
• Bald Eagles
• Hawks
• Owls
• Sparrows
• Loons
• Grebes
• Gulls
• Ducks
• Geese
The largest concentrations of wintering mallards in the country are found along the Mississippi River Flyway in eastern Arkansas. Other species that spend their winter in Arkansas include:
• Short-eared Owls
• Harris’s Sparrows
•Smith’s Longspurs
• Rusty Blackbirds
The above mentioned species are some of the most sought-after, which makes winter a most popular time for bird watching vacation ideas.
First returning summer residents and migrants usually appear from early to mid-March, however, spring migration typically peaks the first week in May. The month of May is another perfect time for bird watching vacation ideas. More than 35 warblers are likely to take up residence as well as vireos, tanagers, orioles, thrushes and buntings.
The summer months in Arkansas are an opportunity to see their breeding birds that include:
• The colorful Painted Buntings
• The elegant Mississippi Kites
• The Swainson’s Warbler
• Many species of herons and egrets nest in colonies
• Least Terns nest on sandbars of the Mississippi, Arkansas and Red rivers
Late summer and fall typically yield fewer species than the spring migration. You are likely to see post-breeding wanderers like Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks and Groove-billed Ani straying into the southern reaches of Arkansas in late summer and fall.
Locations for bird watching in Arkansas include:
• National wildlife refuges
• State wildlife management areas
• State parks
• National Park Service lands
• State fish hatcheries
• State natural areas and three national forests
Federally owned sites in Arkansas for bird watching include:
• Holla Bend
• Big Lake
• Wapanocca
• Felsenthal
• White River national wildlife refuges
• Buffalo National River
• Arkansas Post National Memorial
Each of these areas provides varied habitats, which makes conditions good for bird watching throughout the year. Consult with the visitor centers at these sites to obtain a map and the specific bird resident’s checklist.
Particularly popular for bird watching is Millwood and Lake Chicot state parks and their surrounding areas in Arkansas. Some of the rare bird species sighted in the Millwood Lake includes:
• Parasitic Jaeger
• Vermilion Flycatcher
• Rock Wren
Millwood and Lake Chicot are good areas for winter waterfowl and looking for post-breeding wanderers. You can generally watch hundreds of herons and egrets in late summer roosts on Lake Chicot.
Birding Tours and Birding Festivals in Arkansas
The second weekend of January wintering Bald Eagles are celebrated with Lake Tours held at Bull Shoals-White River State Park as part of the park’s Eagle Awareness Weekend. Other event features include guided bird walks, guest speakers and live bird demonstrations.
On the first full weekend of each May, the Devil’s Den State Park in northwestern Arkansas hosts a Birders’ Weekend. This is generally the time when spring migration peaks in Arkansas. Activities for the birding festival include:
• Guided hikes
• Bird related interpretive programming
These are just a few of the birding tours and birding festivals held in Arkansas that you can add to your list of vacation ideas. Call 1-800-NATURAL or write to Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for more information on Arkansas’ specific birding tours and festivals.
Source: The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism Guide
Important Disclaimer: The URL address listed in the resource box of this article is not associated with the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. This article and the web site are offered as a resource for your vacations ideas.
This article is FREE to publish with the resource box
© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved
Written by: Connie Limon For more vacation ideas visit:
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There is some very good striped bass fishing in many of Arkansas's lakes, with 20 pounders being a fairly common occurrence. If you've never had the pleasure of catching a big striper, it's something that you may want to look in to. Stripers are caught that are in excess of 40 pounds. When's the last time you caught a single fish in excess of 40 pounds? Most people don't get to catch fish this large very often. In the great state of Arkansas, an angler can do this very thing.
