Birding Alabama's Tennessee Valley

A version of this article was originally published in Bird Watcher' Digest.

Admit it; you think Alabama is all cotton fields and red dirt roads right?   Sure, you’ve heard of Alabama’s Gulf Coast and Dauphin Island, well known and fruitful birding destinations.  But the rest of the state?  Not much else to see you say.

You are wrong Grasshopper.

Stretching across the northern tier of the state is the Tennessee Valley, with the most varied landscape in the state.  From the dense woodlands of the Bankhead National Forest and Sipsey Wilderness in northwestern Alabama, through the lakes and rivers of the central valley, to the mountains in the northeast corner, the Valley’s diversity is astonishing. These diverse environments provide attractive habitats for numerous species of resident and transient bird species. The forests attract woodland birds, the waterways and tupelo and cypress swamps provide habitat for waterfowl, and acres of open fields and grasslands are filled with songbirds. And all of this variety is within an easy day’s drive; Alabama is only 180 miles wide.

Threading through these lands is the North Alabama Birding Trail, a network of 50 individual sites spanning north Alabama. The sites range from simple roadside pull-offs, to short walking trails, to more remote locales accessed only by lengthy hikes or even canoes. The trail sites are divided among three loops, each offering unique birding opportunities.

Let’s start our trek in the northwest corner of the state with the Northwest Loop which consists of fifteen sites that lead visitors along the shores of Wheeler, Wilson, and Pickwick lakes. These three lakes are home to large numbers of gulls, bald eagles, and numerous species of waterfowl.  

Our first stop is Rock Springs Nature Trail near the historic Natchez Trace.  The trail follows a small creek that has been backed up by beaver dams.  Orange jewelweed grows in abundance along the banks of the waterway and attracts hundreds of migrating ruby-throated hummingbirds, as well as vagrant black-chinned and rufous hummers. Summer and winter birding will reveal Acadian flycatcher, red-shouldered hawk and pileated, red-bellied, hairy and downy woodpecker.  There is a lot of history along the Natchez Trace so while you’re in the area take a leisurely drive along the Trace and visit the Meriwether Lewis Monument where Lewis, of the famous Lewis & Clark expedition, met his fate under suspicious circumstances.  Also along the Trace are ancient Indian mounds, Civil War sites and remnants of the original Trace, overgrown ruts where thousands of wagons, horses and settlers passed as they traded and emigrated along this historic pioneer trail. 

Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge protects a resident population of endangered Alabama Cavefish.  While the cave itself is closed to the public, the surrounding acreage has been returned to native grasslands which abound with grasshopper sparrow, bobolink and dickcissel as well as the occasional short-eared owl. 

A site just below Wheeler Dam on the Tennessee River provides views of hundreds of double crested cormorants, common loons, white pelicans, and herring, ring-necked and Bonaparte’s gulls. A similar stop below Wilson Dam also hosts gulls, black-crowned and yellow-crowned night herons.  Be sure to check the “Rockpile” on the south shore below the dam for great crested flycatcher and prothonotary warbler. 

Migrating shorebirds stop over at Leighton Ponds, a hodgepodge of sinkholes and flooded lowland areas just east of the town of Tuscumbia where white pelicans, great blue heron, semipalmated plover, wood stork, white ibis and other waterfowl congregate.

Bankhead National Forest covers 180,000 acres of mature pine and hardwood forests, fallow fields, and river habitat along the Sipsey River and is a good place to spot barred owl, pine warbler, cerulean warbler and brown-headed nuthatch.  Rent a canoe and float the Sipsey River through the Sipsey Wilderness, a beautiful float among hardwood forests and steep limestone bluffs and a pleasant and relaxing way to spot ducks and waterfowl.

The Central Loop features 18 stops, the most visited being Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. During the winter months, this refuge is home to thousands of sandhill cranes and ducks that rest and feed in the refuge’s backwaters and fields. Check out the visitor center and then walk a couple of hundred yards along a wooded path to an impressive heated observation building overlooking an open body of water.  At peak migration time this pool teems with thousands of American shoveler, gadwall, ring-necked duck, northern pintail, wood duck, redhead, Canada, snow and greater white-fronted goose, pied-billed grebe, as well as birds of prey such as American kestrel, northern harrier, and an occasional bald eagle and osprey.  Wheeler has seen a steadily increasing winter sandhill crane population over the years, with almost 12,000 cranes counted in 2013, a record for the refuge.  Other productive spots within the refuge include Limestone Bay/Arrowhead Landing where American white pelican, great egret, lesser scaup, green-winged teal, red-breasted merganser and common loon can be spotted.  This is also a good place to spy unusual Alabama visitors like red-necked Grebe and rough legged hawk. 

The big news at Wheeler is a small but consistent overwintering population of endangered whooping cranes.  For the last half-dozen years 3-7 whoopers have made Wheeler their winter home.  During the 2011-12 winter, nine whooping cranes from Operation Migration flew to Alabama then refused to follow Operation Migration’s ultralight aircraft further south to their intended winter destination in Florida.  They contentedly hunkered down in a less-than-ideal spot in western Alabama until OM staff decided to capture them and transport them to Wheeler NWR where they would be better protected.   Those nine birds stayed at Wheeler until late April before finally departing for their summer home in Wisconsin.  The hope was that, having imprinted on Wheeler as their winter home, they would return.  Much to the delight of refuge staff and visitors, four OM birds returned in late 2012, along with seven others.   To observe this welcome influx of cranes, in January 2013 the refuge sponsored its first annual Festival of the Cranes with educational and entertainment programs, ranger-led hikes, and films celebrating the birds.

A few miles up the road is Swan Creek Wildlife Management Area on the Tennessee River.  Mudflats along the river here support killdeer and greater and lesser yellowlegs and more uncommon species like Baird’s sandpiper, black-bellied plover and American avocet.

Monte Sano State Park overlooks the city of Huntsville, AL and its wooded highlands atop a ridge of the Cumberland Plateau attract hundreds of neotropical migrants in the spring and fall.  Cerulean warblers, black-and-white warblers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, and yellow-billed cuckoos are good finds.  Monte Sano is crisscrossed with many hiking and biking trails.  Take the Red Trail to Fagan Springs to find golden-crowned Kinglets and winter wren. 

Before you leave Huntsville visit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, an expansive museum that documents Huntsville’s role in America’s space program.  The Center includes an IMAX theater, interactive displays, hundreds of historical space artifacts, a full scale space shuttle and a Saturn V rocket.

Hays Nature Preserve, along the banks of the Flint River, offers riparian habitat and open grasslands and is a good place to see belted kingfisher, great blue heron, eastern bluebird, song sparrow, field sparrow and white-throated sparrow.

The Northeast Loop rambles through the Appalachian foothills of the remote northeast part of the state.  The first stop in this loop is Sauta Cave National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge is only 264 acres but is a good place to pick up prothonotary warbler.  But the main attraction is the population of 250,000 endangered gray bats, the largest single population in the world.  During June, July and August the bats emerge from the cave at dusk for their nightly insect hunt and it is a sight not to be missed.

Bald eagles have experienced a major resurgence in Alabama, nowhere more so than Guntersville State Park.  The park’s Eagle Awareness Weekends, hosted over multiple weekends in January and February, are a sure way to see these magnificent birds perching in bare trees along the banks of Lake Guntersville.  Ranger-led hikes, films and birding programs anchor the weekend events.  The lake covers 67,900 acres and there are multiple places for birding for red-breasted Merganser, lesser scaup, common loon, hooded grebe, red-shouldered hawk, double-crested cormorant and osprey.  Uncommon visitors like merlin, peregrine falcon, rough-legged hawk, long-tailed duck, western grebe and Pacific loon have been seen here.

Buck’s Pocket State Park is another good bald eagle refuge.  Rent a canoe and paddle South Sauty Creek and Morgan’s Cove looking for eagle nests.  You’ll also likely see belted kingfisher, great blue heron and great egret.

Skyline Wildlife Management Area has over 46,000 acres that are best visited in the spring when migrating species such as prairie warbler, indigo bunting and yellow-breasted chat are present, but year round residents include wild turkey and northern bobwhite and—the real attraction--Alabama’s only population of ruffed grouse.

Russell Cave National Monument’s nature trails and elevated boardwalks make for easy birding among hardwood forests full of summer and scarlet tanagers, yellow-billed cuckoo and good numbers of warblers during migration season.  On the drive into the National Monument on County Road 75, keep your eyes open along the roadsides and farm fields for blue-gray gnatcatcher, white-eyed vireo, and cerulean warbler.

Arguably the most scenic location in north Alabama, Little River Canyon National Preserve covers 14,000 acres of sheer cliffs, 900-foot deep canyons, raging whitewater, and thick hardwood and pine forests. Called the “Grand Canyon of the East”, Little River Canyon is the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi.  This rugged area has few trails, most of them are strenuous and Little River is a wild Class III to Class IV run, so floating the river is not a viable birding option.  Fortunately, Rim Drive skirts the canyon for 23.x miles and has numerous turnouts for spying a healthy raptor population that includes red-tailed and broad-winged hawks and the occasional peregrine falcon and golden eagle.  Cliff swallow, rough winged swallow and chimney swift zoom alongside the cliffs and woodland birds like red-eyed vireo, yellow-breasted chat, prairie warbler and yellow-throated warbler haunt the thick forests.

If Little River Canyon is ruggedly inaccessible, DeSoto State Park is user friendly.  A network of trails meanders through park’s hilly woodlands, an easy way to hike and enjoy seeing glimpses of Kentucky, hooded, black-and-white, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers, wood thrush, rose-breasted grosbeak and a wide variety of woodpeckers.  A good day’s hike will wear you out; fortunately you can have a good’s night sleep in the park’s lodge or one of the rustic chalets and enjoy a meal at the lodge restaurant.

Sounds like a full plate right?  And those are just the high spots, the full menu of birding sites will add even more to your Alabama trek.  You can adjust your trip to spend as few or as many days as you’d like in north Alabama. 

So forget all your preconceived notions of Alabama birding being only a southern coastal phenomenon and head to the other end of the state.  Northern Alabama offers perhaps an even greater variety of birds than the coastal region—over 300 different species have been observed in the Tennessee Valley.  As Master Po would say “Expect the unexpected Grasshopper.”

Visitor Information

North Alabama Birding Trail

www.northalabamabirdingtrail.com
866-238-4748

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge/Key Cave National Wildlife Refuge/Sauty Cave National Wildlife Refuge
2700 Refuge Headquarters Road
Decatur, AL  35603
wheeler@fws.gov
256-350-6639

Bankhead National Forest

District Ranger
P.O. Box278
Double Springs, AL  35553
www.fs.fed.us/r8/alabama
205-489-5111

Monte Sano State Park

5105 Nolen Avenue
Huntsville, AL  35801
256-534-3757

Guntersville State Park

7966 AL HWY 227
Guntersville, AL  35976
256-571-5444

Russell Cave National Monument and Little River Canyon National Preserve

2141 Gault Ave N
Ft Payne, AL  35967
256-845-9605

DeSoto State Park

13883 County Road 89
Ft. Payne, AL  35967
256-845-0051