This year, Audubon North Carolina is working to grow the Bird-Friendly Communities initiative. A new partnership program with a vision for North Carolina, bird-friendly communities give birds the opportunity to succeed by providing connected habitat dominated by native plants, minimizing threats posed by the built environment, and engaging people of all ages and backgrounds in stewardship of nature.
Please welcome guest-blogger Scott Anderson. Scott is the coordinator of the NC Birding Trail and NC Partners in Flight, both programs of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. He is also a founding member of the Bird-Friendly Communities implementation team. Audubon North Carolina is an inaugural partner of the NC Birding Trail.
Have you asked yourself, what do you want to see this weekend? Bird-Friendly Communities is connecting nature lovers to the best birding spots in their own backyards. With the NC Birding Train database, you won’t need to travel farther than your local community to add a few birds to your list this year.
From the oak and hickory forests of the piedmont to the longleaf pine savannah in the sand-hills, across our state more than 300 sites on the North Carolina Birding Trail (NCBT) represent almost all of the diverse habitats. These sites can be public or private, remote or urban/suburban and contain an unprecedented variety of habitats. And you can’t beat the bird watching either!
Bird-Friendly in Every Region
The NCBT can help any adventure seeker find great natural places by location OR by bird species in any region of North Carolina. If you’re looking to take a trip to Greensboro, and want to see what’s nearby, simply search the interactive map. Once you’ve found the ideal spot, like Haw River State Park for example, the NC Birding Trail will provide you with everything you need to know for an impromptu or long-planned visit! Not only will you find descriptions, directions and amenities, but the site will also provide you with a full list of birds you may find once you’re there.
Here are a few destinations to get you started on your next adventure!
In the Mountains:
In the Piedmont:
On the Coast:
Having trouble deciding where to go? Why not let the birds decide? You can search for sites to visit based on the bird species that occur there. If you are out searching for the our quintessential southern bird, the Brown-headed Nuthatch, simply consult the Bird Finder to choose the best place to visit. Not only does the map display locations where a species often occurs, but it also tracks recent sightings from other enthusiasts through the eBird website.
If the Internet isn’t your thing, that’s not a problem! All of this detailed information is available in a book that can be purchased at the NC WildStore.
So, if you’re an avid birder out to see an elusive species you’ve been searching for, or just looking for a nice place to take an afternoon stroll, check out the North Carolina Birding Trail. Whether urban, suburban or somewhere in the middle of nowhere, there are hundreds of sites across the state, and a trail near you is waiting to be explored.
Want to learn more? Here are a few links to get you started:
- NCBT: www.ncbirdingtrail.org
- NCBT Brown-headed Nuthatch map: ncbirdingtrail.org/map?aou=1350
- NCBT Central Piedmont group: ncbirdingtrail.org/map?group=Central-Piedmont
- eBird Brown-headed Nuthatch map (current year): ebird.org/ebird/map/bnhnut?neg=true&env.minX=-81&env.minY=33&env.maxX=-78&env.maxY=37&h=true&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=cur
