Croatan Forest
Location: Craven, Jones and Carteret Counties
Total Size: 146,672 acres
Map
Site Description: The Croatan Forest IBA is a large and diverse natural
area located between Swansboro, Newport and New Bern. This site is bounded
on three sides by rivers; the White Oak to the South, the Neuse to the north,
and the Trent to the west. Highway 24 form the eastern boundary. The
Croatan includes one of North Carolina's largest and best examples of pocosin
and a diverse array of habitat types that support a corresponding diversity
of bird life. A system of roads, most unpaved, and hiking trails allow
access to many areas of the National Forest.
Habitats: The Croatan is a vast area of longleaf pine forest, pine savannah, Carolina bays, pocosin, cypress and hardwood swamp forest, Atlantic white cedar stands, upland hardwood forest, natural lakes, blackwater creeks, managed impoundment, freshwater marsh and saltwater marsh. Although much of the area is managed and some has been timbered, there are areas of longleaf pine forest that have never been logged.
Land Use: wildlife conservation, other conservation, hunting, forestry, recreation
Primary Threats: Introduced species, alteration of hydrology
Protection Status: Much of this site is in federal
ownership, managed by the National Forest Service. Four areas of the Croatan
National Forest are designated wilderness areas.
Conservation Issues: Maintaining the integrity of the wetland habitats
throughout the National Forest and beyond the boundaries of the National Forest
is key to conserving habitats critical to North Carolina's birds.
Birds: Lake Ellis Simon supports North Carolina's largest nesting colony of nesting
Double-crested Cormorants and several pairs of Anhingas. Anhingas nest on Great
Lake in some years, along with Ospreys. Great Blue Herons nest on both
Great Lake and Lake Ellis Simon. The site is one of the state's most important
sites for pine savannah and Carolina Bay/pocosin habitats (Criteria 3). In addition to the species listed
below Yellow-breasted Chat, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, numerous woodpeckers, Acadian Flycatchers
and several species of owls.
Key Bird Species
|
Criteria |
Season |
Number |
||
| 1 | Red-cockaded Woodpecker | B | 60 | |
| 1 | Bachman's Sparrow | B | -- | |
| 4a | Worm-eating warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Black-throated Green Warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Kentucky warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Swainson's Warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Pine Warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Prothonotary Warbler | B | -- | |
| 4a | Ovenbird | B | -- | |
| 4a | Double-crested Cormorant | B | 135 prs | |
| 4a | Osprey | B | ? | |
| 4a | Chuck-wills-Widow | B | -- | |
| 4a | Whip-poor-Will | B | -- | |
| 3 | Longleaf Pine Forest | |||
| 3 | Carolina Bay/Pocosin | |||
| 4g | Concentration or diversity of landbirds |
B=Breeding FM=Fall Migration
SM=Spring Migration W=Winter
Sources:
Fussell, J. F. 1994. A birder's guide to coastal North Carolina. The
University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC.