Birdwatching is one of America’s fastest-growing outdoor pastimes, supported by incredible field guides and citizen science.

Organizations like Audubon have identified over 2,500 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) based on international conservation criteria. Meanwhile, eBird provides a vast cornucopia of data through its “Hotspot” maps and bar charts.

Yet no guide exists for the best places to find birds — searchable by bird groups, species, states, and time of year.

Last Great Places for Birds & Birders has taken the rich eBird data, compiled it into an easily searchable database, and applied it to IBAs and other noted birding areas. It serves as a companion to America’s Last Great Places for conserving natural diversity. Studies show that protecting these habitats contributes substantially to conserving other species and ecosystems.

The platform was developed by Greg Low at Applied Conservation. As well as a long-time conservation practitioner, Greg is a self-described “enthusiastic but incompetent birder.” Now semi-retired, he initially developed this tool to help find great birding spots while migrating seasonally across the U.S. in his campervan.