Learn about birds and more at the Little Rock Audubon Center

For those into birding and nature, the Little Rock Audubon Center is an interesting venture option to head to in Little Rock. 

“The Little Rock Audubon Center is a destination for birders and naturalists in central Arkansas who want to explore birds, wildlife, plants, and more in the unique habitats at our site,” said Uta Meyer, Center Manager at the Audubon/Delta/Little Rock Audubon Center. “Four miles of public trails wind through 400-acres of diverse habitat, including globally rare nepheline syenite glades, all within minutes of downtown Little Rock.”

The center, which is located at 4500 Springer Blvd in the historic African American community of Granite Mountain, is completely solar-powered and the grounds of native plant landscaping and habitat restoration fuel a bird-friendly landscape.

“The Little Rock Audubon Center is part of the National Audubon Society's network of conservation action centers and is the Arkansas headquarters for Audubon Delta,” said Meyer. “The center serves as an environmental education hub and demonstration site for Audubon's on-the-ground habitat management. Audubon’s work in Arkansas and the greater Delta region, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, includes policy and advocacy, education, habitat conservation, and bird science and is implemented by environmental conservation professionals working at the center. Our staff is a resource for visitors and the public to call on. It's unique for an education center to have such diverse expertise on-site.”

A paved Wildlife Observation Trail is among the routes available for people to walk on while visiting the center and it showcases an oak savanna habitat and views of the Little Rock skyline in the distance. Along the trail you can learn about rain gardens, which help combat erosion by slowing the flow of stormwater and vernal pools, which hold water during wet seasons and provide important habitat for creatures like frogs and turtles. The route is also part of the Fourche Creek Watershed, which drains around 3/4 of Little Rock’s surface area. 

Arkansas is in the Mississippi Flyway and the Little Rock Audubon Center is an example of central Arkansas stopover habitat. Along with being a place to see birds, the grounds also have habitat to protect them including swift towers for birds like chimney swifts to use.