Every fall, the state of New Jersey narrows to a point and the birds have nowhere left to go.
Cape May sits at the bottom of a peninsula with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Delaware Bay on the other. Birds moving south along the coast in autumn are funneled into a strip of land that keeps getting narrower until it simply ends, and in front of them is 12 miles of open water. Raptors will not cross it in a headwind. Songbirds that tried it overnight turn around at dawn and come back. The result is a few hundred acres at the end of a peninsula that concentrate more migrating birds than most states manage across their entire area.
eBird lists 448 species for Cape May County across more than 425,000 checklists, the highest checklist total of any county in New Jersey. Three sites at the tip of the peninsula account for most of it, and all three are within four miles of each other.
This guide covers Cape May Point State Park and its hawkwatch platform for raptors, Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area for the morning songbird flight, and the South Cape May Meadows for shorebirds, waders, and beach-nesting species. You can walk all three in a single day.
Why Cape May Is the Best Fall Migration Site in North America
The Cape May Bird Observatory has been counting raptors from the same platform since 1976. On October 4, 1977, the counters logged 21,800 hawks in a single day, including 11,000 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 9,400 Broad-winged Hawks. That flight is why Cape May is called the raptor capital of North America, and nothing since has seriously challenged the title.
Modern seasons are more modest but still remarkable. The 2018 count finished at 53,495 raptors across 15 species, the highest total since 1999. That season also produced an all-time Cape May record of 921 Bald Eagles and a single-day North American benchmark of 5,406 American Kestrels on October 12. Numbers swing hard from year to year with weather and with the underlying health of each species: the 2021 season totaled 25,880 birds, one of the lowest on record, driven almost entirely by a collapse in Sharp-shinned Hawk numbers.
The songbird story is just as strange. Birds that migrate at night find themselves over Delaware Bay at first light, reverse direction, and stream back north over the dike at Higbee Beach. The Morning Flight count has tallied more than 100,000 birds in a single morning. Cape May is the only place in North America where the same observatory combines direct counts, weather radar, and acoustic monitoring of nocturnal flight calls to study the same migration.
When to Go: Cape May Birding by Season
🌸 Spring (Apr–Jun)
Songbird migration peaks in early to mid May, with warblers moving through Higbee Beach and the Cape May Point woodlots. The real spring event is on the Delaware Bay shore: in late May, Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Sandpipers gather at Reed's Beach and Cook's Beach to feed on horseshoe crab eggs. Piping Plovers and Least Terns begin nesting on the beach at the Meadows, and the end of the Blue Trail closes to protect them.
☀️ Summer (Jul–Aug)
The quietest season for migrants, but not empty. Least Terns, Black Skimmers, and American Oystercatchers are on the beach. Purple Martins stage in large numbers. By late July, the first southbound shorebirds are already back on the ponds at the Meadows, and the Morning Flight count opens on August 1. Beach and boardwalk crowds peak, so start early.
🍂 Fall (Sep–Nov)
The main event. The hawkwatch is staffed sunrise to sunset from September 1 to November 30. Accipiters and falcons peak from mid September through mid October, buteos from mid October onward, and the widest species variety comes late October into November. Plan around the wind: a north or northwest wind behind a cold front is what produces the big flights. Monarch butterflies migrate through the same corridor at the same time.
❄️ Winter (Dec–Mar)
Wintering waterfowl fill the ponds at Cape May Point State Park and the Meadows: Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Ruddy Duck, and a reliable Eurasian Wigeon most years. Snow Buntings and Horned Larks work the dunes. Scoters, loons, and gannets move offshore. The crowds are gone and parking is easy, which for Cape May counts as a feature.
Trail 1: Red, Yellow, and Blue Trails, Cape May Point State Park
Three nested color-coded trails through freshwater pond, dune, marsh, and beach around the Cape May Lighthouse, plus the hawkwatch platform just east of the parking lot. The single most-birded location in the county.
Cape May Point State Park is 244 acres of freshwater ponds, dune, marsh, and beach wrapped around the Cape May Lighthouse. It is the single most-birded location in the county: 376 species across 49,767 eBird checklists from more than 10,000 observers. Admission is free and the gate is open 8am to 8pm.
Three color-coded trails leave from the east side of the parking lot and nest inside each other. The Red Trail (Duck Pond Trail) is a half mile of boardwalk to the pond viewing platforms and is fully wheelchair accessible. The Yellow Trail (Monarch Trail) extends to 1.2 miles through a reforestation area, freshwater marsh, and Al's Pond platform. The Blue Trail (Plover Trail) runs 1.5 miles out to the dunes and beach. The far end of the Blue Trail closes in spring and summer for nesting Piping Plover.
But the reason people fly across the country to stand here is a wooden platform just east of the parking lot.
Sharp-shinned Hawk. On October 4, 1977, Cape May counters logged 11,000 of them in a single day. Photo: Donna A. Dewhurst / Public Domain, via USFWS
The Cape May Hawkwatch platform (eBird hotspot L92443, 348 species on its own) is staffed by a Cape May Bird Observatory counter from sunrise to sunset every day from September 1 through November 30. Fifteen raptor species are counted in a typical season: Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper's Hawk in the greatest numbers, plus American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, and a handful of Golden Eagles most years.
The platform is the rare birding site where showing up unprepared still works. The counter calls out birds as they come through, interpretive naturalists work the crowd through September and October, and you can learn more raptor identification in two hours here than in a season of solo practice. Bring a folding chair.
The ponds behind the platform hold their own list. Common Gallinule and American Coot are on the eBird hotspot's iconic-birds list for September, and Lighthouse Pond regularly produces Eurasian Wigeon in winter among the rafts of Ruddy Duck and teal.
Practical notes: Address is 303 County Highway 629, Cape May, NJ 08204. No entrance fee. Restrooms near the lighthouse. The lot fills by mid morning on good-wind days in October; arrive at sunrise. Dogs are not permitted on the trails. The lighthouse and the World War II fire control tower are open seasonally under separate admission.
Best months: September through November for raptors; December through February for waterfowl
Trail 2: Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area
Dune scrub, old field, hedgerow, and cedar thicket on the Delaware Bay shore: the first cover a night-migrating songbird finds when it turns back from the water at dawn. Walk the hedgerows in the two hours after sunrise and the birds that dropped in are at eye level.
Higbee Beach is where the songbirds land. The Wildlife Management Area sits on the Delaware Bay shore just west of the Cape May Canal, and its mix of dune scrub, old fields, hedgerow, and cedar thicket is the first cover a night-migrating songbird finds when it turns back from the water at dawn. 339 species across 21,249 checklists, and the great majority of them recorded in a three-month window.
Northern Flicker. Flickers move through Higbee in waves on late September and October mornings, sometimes hundreds within an hour. Photo: Lane Wintermute / Public Domain, via USFWS
The Morning Flight songbird count is conducted from a dike here between August 1 and November 15, starting just after sunrise. The phenomenon it documents is genuinely odd: birds that flew south overnight find themselves over open bay at first light, reverse course, and stream back north over the dike in a continuous river. Most days produce a trickle. After a strong autumn cold front, the count can pass 100,000 birds in a morning, mostly warblers, with flickers, Blue Jays, and blackbirds mixed in.
You do not need to be on the count to benefit from it. Walk the hedgerows and field edges in the two hours after sunrise and the birds that dropped in are foraging at eye level: Blackpoll Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and, in the right week, the Cape May Warbler that was named here in 1811 from a specimen collected nearby and then went unrecorded in Cape May for more than a century.
The beach itself is worth the walk. Delaware Bay in front of Higbee produces gulls, terns, and a steady procession of Northern Gannet offshore in late fall, and the canal jetty at the north end is a good vantage for scoters and loons.
Access alert: More than 400 acres of wetland and marsh at Higbee Beach, including the Davey's Lake area and the parking lot near the World War II lookout tower, are closed through December 2026 for the Pond Creek restoration project. The beach and dune paths remain walkable and the lot behind Sunset Beach Gifts on Sunset Boulevard has stayed open, but check New Jersey Fish and Wildlife for current conditions before you drive down. The project is restoring migratory bird habitat, so the closure is temporary pain for a better site.
Practical notes: Free. No restrooms at the trailheads. The sand makes for slower walking than the mileage suggests. Ticks and poison ivy are both abundant in the hedgerows; long pants are worth the heat. The dune paths have low branches and tight corners.
Best months: Late August through October, in the first three hours after sunrise
Trail 3: South Cape May Meadows Preserve
218 acres of freshwater wetland, meadow, dune, and a mile of protected beach, owned by The Nature Conservancy and wedged between the state park and the town. The easiest walking of the three, and the best place at the point to watch a falcon hunt.
The Meadows is 218 acres of freshwater wetland, meadow, dune, and a mile of protected beach, owned by The Nature Conservancy and wedged between Cape May Point State Park and the town of Cape May. It has recorded 355 species across 34,327 checklists, the second most-birded hotspot in the county, and it is the easiest walking of the three.
This ground was a town until 1944, when erosion and saltwater intrusion finished it off. For decades afterward it was a Phragmites monoculture. A major restoration in 2007 rebuilt the dune line, reconnected the freshwater wetlands, and brought back native rose mallow and cattail. In 2024 the preserve added a half-mile ADA-compliant boardwalk, which makes it one of the most accessible world-class birding sites anywhere.
Piping Plover, federally threatened and nesting on the beach at the Meadows. Sections of the dune and beach close each spring to protect them. Photo: Sarah Fensore / Public Domain, via USFWS
The trail system is a loop with an out-and-back spur and a connector to the state park, so you can bird both sites without moving your car. The impoundments hold shorebirds through the southbound season from late July onward: Stilt Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, dowitchers, and yellowlegs are all regular, alongside Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Glossy Ibis, and Little Blue Heron.
The beach is the nesting ground. Federally threatened Piping Plover, state-endangered Least Tern, and American Oystercatcher all breed here, which is why fenced sections close from spring through midsummer. Black Skimmer loafs on the sand in flocks through late summer.
The Meadows is also the best place at the point to watch a falcon hunt. Peregrines and Merlins coming off the hawkwatch cut low across the impoundments after shorebirds, and the whole marsh lifts at once.
Practical notes: Gravel lot at 692 Sunset Boulevard with 37 standard spaces and 3 ADA spaces. Free. Open daylight hours year round. No dogs. Benches and an observation platform throughout. A port-a-potty is usually on site; full restrooms are a short walk away at the state park.
Best months: Late July through October for shorebirds and migration; mid May through mid June for breeding species and spring migrants
Signature Species of Cape May
🦜 Birds You'll Likely See
Planning Your Trip
Getting there: Cape May is at the southern end of the Garden State Parkway, roughly 90 minutes from Philadelphia and three hours from New York City. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry connects to Delaware and is itself a productive eBird hotspot in Delaware Bay. All three sites in this guide are within four miles of each other at the tip of the peninsula, and the state park and the Meadows are connected by a walking trail.
A one-day plan: Be at Higbee Beach at sunrise for the morning songbird flight and the hedgerows. Move to the hawkwatch platform at Cape May Point State Park by mid morning, when thermals get raptors moving, and stay through the early afternoon. Walk the Meadows in the last two hours of light for shorebirds, waders, and hunting falcons. That sequence follows the birds' own daily rhythm rather than fighting it.
Watch the wind, not the calendar: Cape May's big days are made by weather. A cold front passing through overnight followed by north or northwest winds is the setup that produces both the huge hawk flights and the huge morning flights. A warm southwest wind in the same week can produce almost nothing. Check the forecast and be flexible about which day you drive down.
Where to get oriented: The Cape May Bird Observatory Northwood Center in Cape May Point keeps a sightings board, sells maps, and staff will tell you what came through this morning. It is worth 15 minutes before you start.
What to bring: A folding chair for the hawkwatch platform, which is a sitting-and-scanning game rather than a walking one. Binoculars are enough for most of it, though a scope helps on the Meadows impoundments and for offshore birds. Sun protection matters more than you expect: there is no shade on the platform, on the dike, or anywhere in the Meadows.
eBird resources: Cape May County (US-NJ-009) aggregates the whole peninsula. Targeted hotspots: Cape May Point State Park (L109132), Hawkwatch Platform (L92443), South Cape May Meadows (L109136), Higbee Beach WMA (L109135).
Other East Coast birding: Cape May pairs naturally with other Atlantic Flyway sites. For urban migration traps two hours north, see the NYC birding guide. For Appalachian breeding warblers in spring rather than fall migrants, see the Great Smoky Mountains guide. For a southern wetland contrast, the Florida Everglades guide covers wading birds and Snail Kites.
How to read a hawk flight: Raptors leaving Cape May Point behave differently by species, and knowing which is which saves you a lot of squinting. Accipiters (Sharp-shinned and Cooper's) flap in short bursts and glide, and they come through low and fast, often right over the platform. Falcons (Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine) fly with steady rowing wingbeats and rarely soar. Buteos (Broad-winged, Red-tailed) circle up on thermals in kettles and stream off the top. If a bird is spiraling upward in a group, it is almost certainly a buteo. If it just shot past your shoulder, it was an accipiter or a falcon.
FAQ: Cape May Birding
When is the best time to go birding in Cape May, New Jersey?
Late September through mid October is the peak. The hawkwatch runs September 1 to November 30, and the biggest raptor flights come on north or northwest winds behind a cold front. The Morning Flight songbird count at Higbee Beach runs August 1 to November 15, with the largest warbler days in September. Spring is quieter for raptors but brings the Delaware Bay shorebird spectacle in late May, when Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones feed on horseshoe crab eggs.
Where is the Cape May Hawkwatch platform?
Just east of the main parking lot at Cape May Point State Park, 303 County Highway 629, Cape May, NJ 08204. Entry is free and the gate is open 8am to 8pm. A Cape May Bird Observatory counter staffs the platform from sunrise to sunset daily between September 1 and November 30, with interpretive naturalists usually present through September and October.
How many bird species have been recorded in Cape May?
eBird lists 448 species for Cape May County across more than 425,000 checklists, the highest checklist total of any county in New Jersey. Cape May Point State Park has recorded 376 species, the South Cape May Meadows 355, the hawkwatch platform 348, and Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area 339.
What is Morning Flight at Higbee Beach?
A songbird count run from a dike at Higbee Beach from August 1 to November 15. Songbirds that migrated south overnight find themselves over Delaware Bay at dawn, reverse course, and fly back north over the dike in a concentrated stream. On the best mornings after a cold front, the count exceeds 100,000 birds, identified largely by flight call and silhouette.
Is Higbee Beach open right now?
Parts of it are closed. More than 400 acres of wetland and marsh are closed through December 2026 for the Pond Creek restoration project, including the Davey's Lake area and the lot near the World War II lookout tower. The beach and dune paths remain walkable and the lot behind Sunset Beach Gifts on Sunset Boulevard has stayed open. Check New Jersey Fish and Wildlife for current access before visiting.
Why does Cape May concentrate so many migrating birds?
Geography. The peninsula narrows to a point with the Atlantic on one side and Delaware Bay on the other, and it ends in a 12-mile water crossing that raptors will not attempt in a headwind. Birds pile up at the tip waiting for the right wind, which is why a few hundred acres produce numbers most states cannot match across their whole area.
Photo Credits
- Hero image: American Kestrel. Photo by Naser Mojtahed/USFWS. Public Domain.
- Inline image 1: Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo by Donna A. Dewhurst/USFWS. Public Domain.
- Inline image 2: Northern Flicker. Photo by Lane Wintermute/USFWS. Public Domain.
- Inline image 3: Piping Plover. Photo by Sarah Fensore/USFWS. Public Domain.