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Crowds are preparing to flock to Morro Bay Bird Festival 2025! Situated along a stretch of coast known as the Pacific Flyway, Morro Bay is one of the best spots for birding in the United States. Festival participants can expect to spot up to 200 different bird species as they engage in viewings throughout Morro Bay's stunning wintertime landscape. Here's everything you need to know about attending this year's festival!
About Morro Bay's Bird Festival
Morro Bay Bird Festival 2025 is a multi-day, multi-venue event that will run from Jan. 16 through Jan. 20. Attendees can look forward to more than 250 events taking place throughout the festival's four-day itinerary. More than 140 expert leaders will bring their passion and knowledge to the festival. Highlights include guided walks, nature journaling, presentations, guided kayaking, cruises, and master classes. Here's a look at all of the venues and nature spaces that are included in the festival:
- Atascadero Lake
- Bayshore Bluffs Park
- Baywood Inn
- Baywood Park Pier
- Black Hill La Loma
- Bob Jones Trailhead
- Cachuma Lake
- Cal Poly Pier
- Carrizo Plains
- Cayucos Abalone Farm
- Cerro Alto Campground
- Cloisters Park
- Cloisters, Azure Street
- Coon Creek Parking Lot
- Cuesta College Performing Arts Center Auditorium
- De Anza Wastewater Facility
- Del Mar Park
- El Chorro Park
- Elephant Seal Rookery
- Elfin Forest
- Estero Bluffs
- Fiscalini Ranch
- Fiscalini Ranch Tipton Street
- Halter Ranch
- Hampton Inn
- Hampton Inn Conference Room
- Harmony Headlands
- Heron Rookery Natural Preserve
- Inn at Morro Bay
- Kern National Wildlife Refuge
- Laguna Lake
- Las Cruzitas Ranch
- Las Pilitas Nursery
- Lopez Lake
- Los Osos Oaks State Preserve
- Madonna Inn
- MB State Park Kayak Launch
- Monarch Butterfly Grove Pismo Beach
- Montana de Oro
- Morro Bay Community Center
- Morro Bay High School
- Morro Bay Landing
- Morro Bay State Park Marina
- Morro Bay Theater
- Morro Rock
- Morro Strand Campground
- Oceano Lagoon
- Oso Flaco Lake
- Pasolivo Ranch
- Piedras Blancas Light Station
- Point Buchon
- Point Sierra Nevada Dunes Beach
- Santa Margarita Lake Ranger Station
- Sea Pines Golf Resort
- SLO Botanical Garden
- SLO Botanical Garden Oak Glen Pavilion
- South Bay Community Center
- Spencer's Market
- Sub Sea Tours
- Sunshine Ranch
- Swallow Creek Ranch
- Sweet Springs
- T Pier at Great American Fish Company
- Vandenheuvel Ranch
- Veterans Hall
- Villa Creek
- Washburn Creek
- Wolff Vineyards
As you dive into planning your time at the festival, you'll find a variety of full-day and half-day trips that grab your interest as a bird watcher, nature lover, or photographer. The terrain of the various venues involved this year will bring you to wetlands, estuaries, oak woodlands, and riparian landscapes. For 2025, new workshops focusing on gull identification and local bats are creating lots of buzz.
The check-in location is the Morro Bay Bird Festival headquarters located at the Morro Bay Community Center at 1001 Kennedy Way. It is necessary to register in advance if you plan to participate in the festival. This can either be done online or in person at the festival headquarters. The headquarters will host the 2025 Bird Festival Bazaar on Friday (12 p.m. to 7 p.m.), Saturday (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and Sunday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Discover Why Bird Is the Word in Morro Bay
Nature doesn't go to sleep for the winter in Morro Bay! The Morro Bay Bird Festival has been the highlight of winter in San Luis Obispo County for 28 years. The festival's flexible schedule means that people coming to the area for birding can also make time for fishing Morro Bay or enjoying sightseeing.
