Birds & Science >

Barred Owl © Tom Scott

North Carolina is blessed with a rich bounty and variety of natural wonders.

From the tops of mountain spruces, the depths of Piedmont beech forests, to the expanses of coastal marshes, birdlife of this state is especially spectacular.

Some 400 species of birds – hawks and herons, wood warblers and woodpeckers, sandpipers and sparrows – call our state home during some part of the year.

Birds are indicators of how healthy our lands are for all life. Therefore, when at least one quarter of North Carolina's birds are seen as rare or in need of special protection, Audubon must act. We do.

Audubon wardens tend coastal sanctuaries providing homes for as many as 40,000 pairs of breeding birds from 23 different species. More pelicans now nest on one of Audubon's 19 managed islands than were along our entire coast just decades ago. The birds are there because Audubon is there.

Nevertheless, we must do more for the new century. We will.

Our Important Bird Areas program has, using the best science, determined almost 100 of the most vital natural heritage sites in North Carolina. We must protect these areas, and do so quickly, if we are to safeguard these natural wonders for future generations.

Our hallmark approach to such protection includes collaborating with local, state, and federal agencies, land trusts, other conservation organizations, industry and communities most connected to these locations. With a firm foundation in science and a powerful national, state, and grassroots network, we are working to restore and protect North Carolina's great natural heritage.