Twas a year full of advocacy wins, hands-on bird research, and ambitious new conservation projects—all to protect birds and the places they need in North Carolina.
Highlights from the year included the launch of our new Urban Forestry program, local and state advocacy for conservation funding and native plants, major new milestones for marsh restoration at our Pine Island Sanctuary, and new tracking and research projects led by our coastal team.
These accomplishments were made possible by our dedicated chapters, donors, and staff, who work year-round to protect birds and the places they need. Read on for a full recap of the biggest wins for birds in 2024.
Habitat, Conservation, and Science
We received a $3 million national grant to fund marsh restoration pilot projects
In November, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded Audubon North Carolina a $3 million grant to fund innovative marsh restoration pilot projects at our Donal C. O’Brien Jr. Sanctuary at Pine Island. The marshes of Currituck Sound provide habitat for birds and vital services for people, from water filtration to flood protection, but these expansive wetlands are threatened by rising seas and encroaching development. The new funding will allow us to test nature-based methods for protecting and rebuilding the marshes, and is part of a broader Marsh Conservation Plan developed by Audubon and partners at the Currituck Sound Coalition. Learn more here.
We conducted research in support of ecosystem restoration on Currituck Sound
Throughout the year, we worked with partners to assess the state of the Currituck Sound marshes, including erosion levels and the health and abundance of underwater plants, all while testing the best methods for gathering that data. Working with UNC and Elizabeth City State University researchers, we used aerial imagery to map shoreline and vegetation changes overtime. We also partnered with students from UNC’s Outer Banks Field Site on a two-part capstone project focused on Pine Island. The results of these projects will help inform our community engagement and future management work on the sound.
Pine Island project supported by NC Land and Water Fund prepped for ground-breaking
A large portion of the Pine Island grounds and marshes will soon be transformed, thanks to a grant from North Carolina’s Land and Water Fund. The team at Pine Island completed designs to restore a pond and stream system that will help ensure the entire hydrological structure in a portion of the sanctuary is functioning naturally and connected to the larger marsh. This will benefit countless wading birds, waterfowl, and even fish. Construction on this project will begin in early 2025. Learn more here.
Our coastal team protected habitat for 40 percent of NC’s coastal nesting waterbirds, including a successful nest for a rare and threatened shorebird
This year, our coastal staff protected and managed sanctuaries that are home to 40 percent of North Carolina’s nesting coastal waterbirds, as we do every year. One highlight from the summer was a pair of federally threatened Piping Plovers at Lea-Hutaff Island that were able to successfully fledge chicks—the first to do so at the undeveloped island sanctuary in over a decade. A state-wide report published last year underscores the importance of our coastal conservation work. The report highlighted the importance of protected sanctuaries and especially dredged-material islands for these same species, in the face of increasing development along the coast.
Audubon North Carolina banded thousands of coastal birds to help better understand and protect them
Audubon staff, partners, and volunteers visited nesting colonies across the coast to band terns, skimmers, and oystercatchers throughout the spring and summer. We continued to put field readable bands on a subset of birds, which will allow us to gather insights into where and when these birds are moving around the coast. This work is already paying off in the form of re-sightings, including a Sandwich Tern banded on the Cape Fear River that turned up in Naples, Florida later in the summer. Banding allows us to monitor important populations and understand how best to prioritize conservation efforts.
Our coastal team launched new research projects to better understand and track waterbirds
From GPS data loggers to bird poop, our coastal team was busy this spring and summer with new and cutting-edge research that will help us better understand and protect priority bird species. In order to get a better understanding of the full annual lifecycle of Royal Terns on the Cape Fear River, we partnered with Dr. Kate Goodenough, lead ecologist at Larid Research and Conservation, to track their movements using GPS technology. This is the first such project with this species on the Atlantic Flyway. We also started a new project collecting poop samples from terns, skimmers, and oystercatchers to see what they’re eating and how much. The project is in partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and made possible by a grant from North Carolina SeaGrant.
Audubon North Carolina’s shorebird monitoring efforts help track an endangered Piping Plover
A hand-reared Piping Plover from Waukegan, Illinois on the shores of Lake Michigan returned to the North Carolina coast for her second winter, with help from Audubon on both sides of her migration journey. Blaze (as she was named in Illinois) is monitored in Illinois during the breeding season by Lake County Audubon volunteers. She successfully raised three chicks this summer and returned to Masonboro Inlet in North Carolina where our coastal team spotted her in August. Thanks to monitoring efforts across the coast, we can keep tabs on vulnerable shorebirds like Blaze all year long.
We launched new program with partners to help landowners improve Golden-winged Warbler habitat
Audubon North Carolina partnered with EcoForesters, a nonprofit forestry organization, to launch a new program offering financial assistance and habitat management guidance to Mitchell and Yancey County landowners for Golden-winged Warbler habitat restoration. Audubon has contacted landowners in the past and is welcoming continued landowner participation for this priority bird. With much of the land in western North Carolina in private hands, it is increasingly important that we continue educating landowners and promoting bird-friendly forestry practices.
Audubon science and advocacy supported refuge expansion that includes critical bird habitat
The Roanoke River bottomlands in eastern North Carolina are some of the most extensive forested wetlands in the U.S. and host a wide diversity of bird life. That's why Audubon and more than 300 of our members submitted comments in support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposal to expand the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge. The proposal could bring up to 150,000 more acres into conservation, including important breeding habitat for declining songbirds like the Cerulean Warbler.
Policy and Advocacy
State-level native plants policies continue to grow, thanks to year of Audubon advocacy
North Carolina has seen a trio of breakthrough native plants policies since 2023, the end result of which will be more native plants in the ground across the state and on the shelves at local garden stores and nurseries. The first two policies were announced last year and require the use of native plants at all state parks, historic sites, and roadways. Then in March of this year, Gov. Roy Cooper announced a sweeping conservation executive order, which also included a requirement for the use of native plants on all future state-owned projects. These policies come after years of advocacy by Audubon members and partners, who have lobbied lawmakers, signed petitions, and recruited businsses as supporters.
Audubon North Carolina had a record-breaking turnout at Advocacy Day, lobbying for wetlands, conservation funding, and protecting family land
More than 80 Audubon members gathered to meet with their lawmakers at the North Carolina General Assembly in May. In meetings throughout the day, advocates met with more than 50 state senators and representatives to reinforce just how many of their local constituents' care about birds and conservation. The biggest win in the general assembly was the revival of the Conservation Tax Credit, which gives landowners incentives to protect land and habitat and could be a useful tool for protecting wetlands in light of the US Supreme Court's 2023 Sackett decision. We’re also working to continue building momentum for wetlands protections.
Audubon advocated for a proposal to elevate listing status for three vulnerable species
Audubon members spoke up to support a new proposal from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission that would elevate the endangered/threatened status of a trio of vulnerable birds: Black Skimmers, Rusty Blackbirds, and Swallow-tailed Kites. Each bird faces different threats and depends on different habitat, from barrier island beaches to wetlands. The common thread is that they all need more protection in North Carolina.
Local and Community
Audubon members gathered to share inspiration and celebrate birds at the state-wide Summit
The state office partnered with New Hope Bird Alliance to host more than 100 members at our bi-annual Summit in Durham this fall. Members gathered to learn about urban forestry, bird-friendly yard plantings, Motus towers, and more during in-depth workshops, followed by field trip to enjoy fall migration and a banquet and keynote address from NC Department of Cultural and Natural Resources Secretary Reid Wilson. Students representing campuses from Wilmington, Chapel Hill, Durham, and Charlotte also joined to hone their bird advocacy skills and network.
Audubon North Carolina launched a new urban forestry program to combat bird habitat loss
North Carolina is losing forests and tree canopy at an alarming rate, with fastest rate of loss happening in urban areas where development is on the rise. That’s why Audubon launched a new urban forestry program, partnering with chapters and communities across the state to protect, manage, and grow urban and suburban trees and forests. We’ve seen the power of local advocacy pay off already in Raleigh, where Wake Audubon and partners successfully advocated for the city to commit to stronger tree ordinances and a new urban tree master plan.
Chapters across North Carolina passed new native plant and Lights Out policies in their communities
This year, Greensboro and Winston-Salem passed policies that promote the use of native plants while also banning invasives. The policies come after years of work by T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon and Forsyth Audubon to promote native plants and educate decision makers and the public on the benefits they provide for birds and pollinators. Winston-Salem also passed a Light Out proclamation, thanks to advocacy from Forsyth Audubon, adding to the growing list of North Carolina cities that are going darker to help protect migrating birds.
A North Carolina chapter discovered a rare swift roost in a historic tree and used the phenomenon to highlight the threats facing aerial insectivores
The historic Davie Poplar tree on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus hosted a rare and awe-inspiring phenomenon this fall. Each night from late August through mid-October, thousands of twittering Chimney Swifts flocked around the tree to roost. This used to be normal, before the widespread clearing of eastern old growth forests centuries ago. Now it is exceedingly rare, as these swifts primarily use chimneys, and may be the only known tree roost in North Carolina. The roost was discovered by New Hope Bird Alliance. The chapter hosted watch parties at the roost and promoted it in the media, as part of their year of the aerial insectivore.
