All 5 in 3 days here: ~20%
Hortobágy National Park
🇭🇺 Hungary
Eastern Europe, Hungary 470 spp. recorded
Hortobágy National Park is a protected grassland and wetland region situated on the Great Hungarian Plain in Eastern Europe. Unlike densely forested reserves, this open temperate habitat features vast alkaline plains, shallow marshes, and slow-moving rivers that stretch across the horizon.
47.663° N 21.154° E
🦜 Nature
276 Species sighted
29,864 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Sep Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 251 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
All 7 in 3 days here: ~20%
Recent sightings in Hortobágy National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
41Jan
44Feb
49Mar
51Apr
58May
52Jun
63Jul
56Aug
65Sep
51Oct
39Nov
42Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
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Hortobagy village
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Marshes and grasslands
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Falcon lookout tower
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Entrance
Paid
Tourism
Medium
Typical stay
1
dayTrails
Easy
World Heritage
No
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 Good
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
GoodHow rich is the wildlife?
3.1
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 352
🐒 Mammals 90
🦎 Reptiles 15
🐸 Amphibians 13
470 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
29 Threatened 10 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
Very goodHow likely to see animals?
3.6
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
74% 📊
Coverage (184 species at ≥5% of 470 in the inventory)
39% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (12 bird)
0% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
146 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
6 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
43 🏕️
Experience
ExcellentHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.4
Climate Mixed Medium
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Low High
Trails Easy High
World Heritage No —
What visitors say
On the way to the first tower, we saw Green Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper both good surprises as well as a few Snipe in the distance we saw a Black-winged Stilt in some muddy pools we saw a Greenshank, and a couple Common Sandpipers, a Ruff, 3 Black-tailed Godwits and my lifer Glossy Ibis!
Two Little Egret and a Pygmy Cormorant at a fishpond. Árkus Plains (H) It stopped raining about 6 pm just as I found a male Hobby on the ground for a prolonged time.
This time we had time to explore all the lagoons, and we found the lagoons at the end of the site much more productive than those at the start, with many more species of waders, ducks and grebes.
We are starting in the east, in Hortobágy National Park.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Hortobágy National Park?
470 species
Hortobágy National Park has 470 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Greylag Goose (about 80%), Great Egret (about 80%), Western Marsh-Harrier (about 80%), Grey Heron (about 80%) and European Starling (about 80%). Among mammals, the most-seen is Brown Hare (about 40%); among reptiles, grass snake (about 50%); among amphibians, European Tree Frog (about 50%).
When is the best time to visit Hortobágy National Park for wildlife?
July to October
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 80% on a given day, against about 70% in November to June.
Can you see a Great Bustard in Hortobágy National Park?
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Bustard sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March (about 20%). Sightings take luck and time in the field.
Can you see a Common Crane in Hortobágy National Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Common Crane sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 394 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is October (about 80%).
Can you see a Eurasian Spoonbill in Hortobágy National Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Eurasian Spoonbill sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 337 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is April–May and July (about 70%).
Can you see a White-tailed Eagle in Hortobágy National Park?
Yes
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a White-tailed Eagle sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 389 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is December (about 80%).
Where in Hortobágy National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around Hortobágyi-halastó
The richest sighting zone is around Hortobágyi-halastó, followed by Hortobagy village and Marshes and grasslands, ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Hortobágy National Park good for wildlife watching?
3.5 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Hortobágy National Park rates 3.5/5: 185th of 316 parks worldwide and 2nd in Europe. 60 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
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