Your guide to summer birding in Rhode Island: Where to go and what to see

With habitats that range from salt marshes and coastal beaches to freshwater swamps and mature forests, Rhode Island is a birder’s paradise.

Not only do 150 different avian species call the Ocean State home during the summer months, but the state’s small size means that getting out to catch a glimpse of some of them is never difficult.

But if you’re new to birding and you want to see as many individual species as possible, there are a few things to keep in mind, according to Charles Clarkson, director of avian research at the Audubon Society of Rhode Island.

Do some planning in advance

The first is that most birds have very specific habitat needs. As its name suggests, the salt marsh sparrow is only found in and around salt marshes. Similarly, the wood thrush nests only in large tracts of unfragmented forest. So think ahead about the places you wish to visit.

“Where you go will dictate what birds you see,” said Clarkson.

You should also be cognizant of the time you go. Birds are most active before the day heats up, from the dawn chorus as the sun rises through mid-morning. Activity picks up again around dusk.

That doesn’t mean birds disappear during the middle of the day.

“You just have to work harder to find them,” Clarkson said.

A decent pair of binoculars is important if you want to see birds up close. Make sure you’re familiar with how to use them before heading outside, so you’re not trying to figure things out when a bird flits by.

A bird guide, whether a book or an app, is also a necessity for most people. There are several general guides to North American species and others tailored to parts of the Northeast. The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Rhode Island, which Clarkson co-authored, is probably too cumbersome to pack, but it’s a great resource to look at beforehand, with maps showing where species have been found in the state.

Merlin Bird ID, put out by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is one of the more popular apps for birding on the go. It even has a tool that listens to bird calls and IDs the bird in real time.

Also, think of bringing along a notebook to record what species you see and make any other observations. Your packing list should also include anything else you’d normally bring when heading out on the trails: good hiking shoes, water, snacks, a hat, etc.

Some places to go

Now that those basics are out of the way, here are some places to go:

If it’s the increasingly rare salt marsh sparrow you want to see, try places like Jacob’s Point Marsh or Audubon’s Touisset Marsh Wildlife Refuge, both in Warren, or any of the marshes around Ninigret or Winnapaug ponds and the other South County salt ponds, where the dusky-colored songbird nests in the grasses.

They’re also good places to see egrets, herons, ospreys and other birds that prefer coastal waters.

For the wood thrush, a speckled songster whose numbers are also in decline, a good bet is the George B. Parker Woodland, a scenic Audubon property in Coventry known for its mysterious rock cairns, where you may also see other forest denizens, such as the scarlet tanager.

For something a little different, take a drive to Hopkinton, where The Nature Conservancy’s Ell Pond Preserve and the connected Long Pond Woods Wildlife Refuge, owned by Audubon, offer forests of mountain laurel and rhododendron that are unique in Rhode Island.

There, you may see the Eastern towhee, a type of sparrow recognizable by its dark coloring, or the black-and-white warbler, a small boldly-striped songbird.

Clarkson counts the rocky slopes in the Long Pond refuge as among his favorite birding spots.

“You go out there and nearly every song you hear is from a worm-eating warbler,” he said of a species known to prefer dense understories. “It’s not a bird that most people are aware of. But you may hear three or four there.”

And if you want to go somewhere that has a variety of habitat types – and thus many different bird species – check out Audubon’s Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge in Exeter, where you’ll find beech forests, cedar swamps, ponds, streams and fields, as well as scrubby areas where you may see an indigo bunting, a member of the cardinal family, or a prairie warbler, a little black-and-yellow bird.

Birds are everywhere in Rhode Island

These are just suggestions. There are lots of other places to visit to see Rhode Island’s birds.

You can also try any of the parks and management areas maintained by the state Department of Environmental Management. Or the numerous tracts of open space owned by local land trusts scattered around Rhode Island.

Indeed, one of my favorite spots is St. Andrews Farm in Barrington, a sprawling field full of milkweed and grasses owned by the Barrington Land Conservation Trust where I see species of hawk, red-winged blackbirds and flocks of goldfinches.

But just remember, if you want to see the full breadth of species that Rhode Island has to offer, you’ll have to put in some work.

“They’re not all in one location,” Clarkson said. “You’ll have to go to many places to try to see them all.”