Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary

This place is small and rather run down, but it has lots of different species of birds. The birds are well cared for. It is a noisy place, full of different chattering birds, which somehow is pleasant (probably not if I lived next door). It is free, but I wish they would charge a small fee because they obviously need money. Come before 3pm to be able to speak with staff, check out the gift shop. Another reviewer mentioned the broken netting which is a critical issue.
They also have a sanctuary where they rehab birds that can be re-​released into the wild. These areas are closed to the public so that birds don’t become too accustomed to human contact.
It is worth a visit — at 2:30 they feed the birds. So that would be a great time to come.
And check out their Go Fund Me page for donations!

A pleasant enough place to visit and its free unless you want to make a donation. Figure an hour or so.
Unfortunately the place is in poor condition and obviously doesn’t have adequate funding. Current critical problem is broken netting which allows healthy wild birds into areas that have physically impaired birds. The sanctuary is trying to raise funds through a fund me website.
It needs a professional not for profit manager. Good intentions (and I don’t doubt intentions are good) can’t overcome inadequate funding. Conditions have been roughly the same since I first visited nine years ago.
Go today and enjoy it — you will — because there is no telling when it might just not be there anymore. And if you are a wealthy philanthropist please step up and put this place on its feet (or perhaps wings would be more appropriate word).
It would be a shame to lose it.

Suncoast Sanctuary is all around a fantastic place. A low key and beautiful attraction that is fueled by the right thing to do, saving injured and endangered birds.
SS is a non-​profit location. Also, it is free. This is the best part, because in simple terms, it’s a bird zoo. It’s a great one too. They have a pretty wide range of animals for the small size of the location and relying only on donations.
You know it’s a great place when you see tons of wild birds hanging around!

Such a great place! All of the birds were amazing! It was not crowded and best of all its free to attend! Please give money because these volunteers do an amazing job! My girlfriend and I greatly enjoyed our 45 minutes spent there!

Nice place to walk through with the family. The kids enjoyed seeing all the birds, and all-​in-​all they had a good experience, even though it was super hot outside. The birds are everywhere: under feet, overhead… Be prepared to have some close encounters.

Great place to take the family and the kids to go check out some awesome birds ! My wife and I dropped off an injured blue Jay and they took the little guy right in.

A high point during our brief vacation in Indian rocks beach. Jesse’s review pretty much says it all. We were so glad we went!

This bird sanctuary was recommended by friends to visit while we are in town. It’s really amazing the variety of animals they care for here, in a relatively small (cozy might be a better word) but comfortable facility. There is access from both the beach and the road, and it’s self guided tour-​as-​you-​please. The facility and the emergency wild bird hospital are sustained entirely through private donations, so please give as you can so that they may continue giving as they can. =)

Free attraction on the beach
This is a nice place to see several different types of birds for free. (I LOVE free attractions) There seems to be conflicting comments/​articles/​information about whether or not this place is kind to it’s animals, so you’ll have to make that judgement call for yourself. Also worth noting that this place is located directly on the beach and has free parking. So, after viewing the birds you could take a walk on the beach if you so desired. We found the gift shop to be a bit uninspired. Overall it was worthwhile visit for our family.

Great, FREE place to take the kids on a lazy afternoon. However, I wouldn’t suggest making this your primary reason to venture out this way. This is basically a rescue type facility, all outdoors except for the gift shop. They nurse birds back to health and then release them back to the wild, if they are fully healed. They have quite a few birds with permanent injuries that can’t be returned to the wild, that they house here. These include some pretty awesome owls and hawks. They also have quite the collection of pelicans, which are fed every afternoon and proves to be quite a show. But watch out for the poop overhead! Lots of birds wish they lived here, and hang around hoping for a free morsel of food (including some vultures, which are super creepy).
The parking lot is small, and there is a gift shop and restroom located inside the sanctuary. You can follow the trail out back and onto a beautiful beach. We actually let the kids go play in the water while we were there, and it was very secluded because the only neighboring establishments are hotels. It made me wonder if you could park there, give them a donation, and head out there and enjoy the beach! Make sure to leave a donation in their donation box to help the birds out, and/​or make a purchase at the gift shop to support them. We really enjoyed our visit!

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary is a great place to visit, I come here every week. They help hundreds of birds every year, I have brought many injured birds that I have found here and they always help get them better and release them if possible. This is a great place for families and kids can learn about the resident birds. My favorite time of the year to come is where the brown pelicans have their babies, you can see them in the nests and where they get big enough you can see them get released. The best time to come is before 3 because you can usually see the birds getting fed, or you can come around sunset and you can see a lot of wild bird coming in to roost. If you like animals this is a great place to visit.

One of the best places I’ve ever been to, it’s a bird paradise where you coexist with them. There is no admission fee and visitors walk around the bird cages, with many just free flying around. Great blue jays, cranes, pelicans, black vultures, and you end up walking down a path to the beach. Look like they are expanding and building another part to it, can’t wait to see how it turns out.

The Seabird Sanctuary is free and always different. It’s right on the beach and also has a gift shop. I love seeing the variety of birds but sometimes the enclosures can be a little dirty.

Brought an injured bird in and they worked right away to save it.

Great place to kill time and it’s free, but we did leave donation.
It is birds so you may want to wear a hat. The ones that are being rehabilitated are enclosed, but they have a lot of wild birds that decide to live there and they may leave a little present on our head.
I saw a few people that had wondered in off beach and they were not wearing shoes. The nurse in me cringed at this. There is poop everywhere people please wear shoes.
Overall this is a short educational fun stop and your voluntary donation is for a great cause.

I love this place! It’s a great free way to spend an half our or so while at the beach. I guess you could probably spend an hour or more there, but as it is a bird sanctuary, it does smell like birds. Lots of gorgeous birds to look at and great photo ops, too! You can walk through from the beach or park in the parking lot and visit the birds. The parking lot is small and free, but we were able to find a spot at 4:30 on a Saturday with no issues. Remember to leave a few bucks in the donation box so that the sanctuary can continue to do their good work!

An amazing, free way to spend an hour or so if you get sick of lying on the beach (work, work, work!) It’s great to just wander amongst the wildlife and get up close and personal with some of the most incredible species of avian friends Florida has to offer. Even the birds who are uninjured and not residents of the Sanctuary understand that this place is a Good Place, and they come to hang out, wander around and beg for snacks.
Lots of good photo ops. If you ask him nicely, one of the non-​resident pelicans may pose with you. It’s also surprisingly quiet here, lacking the screaming children that seem to overrun most traditional zoos.
The work the Sanctuary does is good work, so if you enjoy your time there, don’t forget to drop a few bucks in their donation box or visit the gift shop.
Housekeeping notes: There is a parking lot, but it’s small. Keep your fingers and children out of the cages. Why yes, it DOES smell like birds! And YMMV, but I felt very lucky to get out of there without being pooped on. Fair warning.

While vacationing at the beach, my husband decided owls were the coolest creatures on the face of the planet, and no, this isn’t some veiled Hooters joke. We heard a bird hooooooo (probably not an owl), and something clicked. My husband went on for a good 5 minutes about how much he adored owls.
Fast forward, and I am looking for unique spots to visit on a rainy day at the beach, and I come across the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. The hubbie decides we must visit immediately. I am now a proud owner of a Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary shirt, as after a visit you want to proudly support this wonderful operation. It is free to visit, but you can help the cause with a donation or a purchase from the gift shop.
It is outdoors, so we did get a little wet, and you will experience an unease that at any moment you may be pooped on, but that is part of the adventure! It smells just a little, but what do you expect? There are 100s of birds being rehabilitated from egrets to pelicans to vultures! Plus, there are numerous wild birds that come to the sanctuary. I suppose they are hoping to take advantage of some free chow. There was one wild vulture perched on a limb right next to the vulture cage. Creepy, but cool. Because it was rainy, we didn’t make it out to the beach, but the sanctuary does back up to the sand.
And, yes, they had owls. We got to see three, and there mere presence confirmed for my husband that owls are the frickin’ best. And all while vacationing at the beach.

As a photographer I try to get out and visit all our local gardens and sanctuaries. This is for sure the coolest bird refuge and rehabilitating facility around.

I refuse to give less than 5 stars to a business dedicated to helping a cause. Lots of large birds, small birds, things I don’t know about. The staff here is exceptionally nice– offering info, answering questions, just nice in general. One volunteer told us that they really need more volunteers, and this was quite clear. It’s expensive to feed and care for these injured animals, and I got the feeling that they needed many more hands just to help around the sanctuary. I like what the business card says: «Rescue, Recuperation, Repair, Release.» If you’re feeling extra nice today, I know they accept donations.