king penguins on South Georgia Island
birds taking flight in Cape May, New Jersey
storks in the Pantanal wetlands, Southwestern Brazil, South America
a flock of birds flying at high tide in Broome, Australia
a lesser bird of paradise in Papau New Guinea
a rope bridge in Kakum National Park in the Central Region of Ghana
hummingbirds in Mindo, Ecuador
cranes seen in the Hula Valley, northern Israel
Lanner Gorge in the Kruger National Park, South Africa
Amur Falcons flying in Nagaland, India
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South Georgia IslandHalf a million king penguins, each standing three feet tall, pack shoulder to shoulder in mesmerizing colonies on this hundred-mile-long, glacier-studded island–reached by two days of sailing east of Chile’s Cape Horn. Millions of smaller seabirds nest on the island’s tussock-covered slopes, partly thanks to the largest-ever rat-eradication effort, completed on South Georgia in 2015. While drinking in the abundant birdlife, raise a glass to...
Photograph by Eric Chen, Getty Images

The World's Best Destinations for Bird-Watching

Slow down for epic spectacles of nature in these world wonders for birding.

ByNoah Strycker
March 8, 2018
2 min read

Birds are the world’s quintessential travelers, free to fly at a moment’s notice without carry-on or even a passport. Some cross hemispheres to meet a mate; others gather in stupendous flocks for the sake of a little company. And in a few corners of the Earth, like in Denali, birds create avian spectacles that make its own weather.

So grab your binoculars! From king penguins to melancholy woodpeckers, about 10,000 feathered species share this planet with us—and in these ten hotspots, they will take your breath away.

Bird expert Noah Strycker is author of National Geographic book Birds of the Photo Ark. Follow his story on Twitter.

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