Birds bring such beauty to North Carolina rivers. For generations, birds like pelicans, ibis, wading birds, and terns have used our rivers to nest and raise chicks. Learn how you can help keep our rivers a haven for these important local creatures. Watch this video and be sure to share these tips with your bird-loving friends!

Take care during nesting season

Be mindful of your potential impact on birds and their habitats, especially during nesting season when birds and chicks are most vulnerable. Heed signs: stay off posted islands during nesting season and avoid areas with large flocks of birds to ensure our local bird families can grow.

Enjoy birds from a distance

Birds are everywhere, and North Carolina’s rivers provide an excellent way for humans to see a wide variety of them. Use binoculars to view birds from a safe distance on land, or from the comfort of a boat. This will ensure mother birds feel safe and allow the chicks to rest undisturbed. If your presence is causing birds to take flight, vocalize at you, or otherwise change their behavior, you are too close!

Keep your dog at home

It’s so important to never let your dog near the islands or posted areas where birds are nesting. Not even for a minute! Even well-behaved dogs look like birds’ natural predators, and could cause parent birds to fly up, exposing eggs and chicks to danger.

Put trash in the can

Keep our rivers clean by putting trash and unwanted fishing line in the trash can, not in the water or anywhere on land (where it could still end up in the water). Take pride in our birds and rivers by keeping our waters clean and healthy.

These simple actions will help keep our rivers a haven for birds and people for generations to come.

Thank you to the Orton Foundation for supporting the creation of this video and for their dedication to protecting North Carolina’s rivers and coasts.