Middle Coastal IBAs

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The North Carolina coast has vast expanses of tidal marsh associated with barrier islands, sounds, and lower river systems. On the northern coast in Currituck Sound, the marsh is brackish and is a haven for typical marsh birds such as rails and Marsh Wrens, but it is most well known for wintering waterfowl that once numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Far fewer waterfowl winter on Currituck Sound today, but the Sound and its marshes remain important for ducks, geese, and swans. The marshes of the Cedar Island peninsula, separating Pamlico Sound and Core Sound, support North Carolina's largest population of elusive Black Rails and nesting Seaside Sparrows, among others. On the southern coast, extensive saltmarshes and tidal creeks, flushed twice daily by tides, are important for birds such as rails, wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl, and marsh sparrows. Download the Coastal Region from the 2011 eBook.

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