Birding in the Park

Two ladies looking for birds — Two ladies searching for birds
NPS

Birding opportunities abound at Appomattox Court House NHP. The park’s 1,696 acres provide a variety of forest and grassland habitats for over 90 species of birds. Use the checklist that is at the bottom of this page to record your bird sightings. The Hiking Trails brochure provides more information on the more than eight miles of trails as you explore the park.

Where to Look for Birds

While birds seem to be found everywhere, most species are closely tied to a specific habitat and will be more prevalent there. As a basic guide, the map below shows generalized habitat types in the park.

Approximately 500 acres of the park are maintained as grasslands to evoke the rural landscape of 1865. The park uses a variety of tools to maintain grasslands including prescribed burning, cutting hay, cattle pasturing and off-season mowing. The best opportunities for viewing birds of the grasslands and forest edges can be found along the Stage Road Trail, Sweeney Trail, Conner-Sweeney Cabin Trail and Ferguson Wildlife Trail.

Approximately 1,100 acres of the park is forested. Forest types are divided into the following three broad categories:

Hardwood – Mature forest on drier, upland areas. Overstory typically consists of oak, hickory and poplar.
Riparian – Located on lower, moist areas along streams and wetlands. Overstory typically consists of maple, oak, syca- more, poplar and ash. These forests can have a rich vegetative understory.
Transitional – This forest type is successional, changing from aging pine and redcedar stands to hardwoods such maple, poplar, oak and hickory. In many areas, the pine overstory has fallen and thick stands of young hardwoods and shrubs have emerged.

The best forest birding opportunities are along the Southside Connector Trail, Grant’s Approach Trail and Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail. (The information that is on this page is contained in a brochure that can be obtained in the visitor center.)