Jackson Park / Wooded Island

Jackson Park and its Wooded Island on Chicago's South Side form one of the city's most underrated birding destinations. Originally designed for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, the park's lagoons, Japanese Garden, and mature woodland create a migrant trap along the Lake Michigan shoreline that has recorded over 250 bird species.

Wooded Island is the heart of birding here, with its Osaka Japanese Garden and dense woodland canopy concentrating migrating warblers, vireos, and thrushes during spring and fall. The surrounding lagoons attract herons, ducks, and the occasional rare gull or tern. During peak spring migration in May, it is possible to observe 20 or more warbler species in a single morning on this small island sanctuary.