Morgan Island

Location:  Carteret County            Total Size: 10 acres

Site Description: Morgan Island is a small island near Cape Lookout. The majority of the upland portion of the island was built of dredged-sand.  More than 10 years have elapsed since the last deposit of dredged-sand, thus significant shrub thickets have developed.  These shrub thickets support several thousand nesting wading birds annually.    

Habitats: shrub/scrub, bare sand, grassland, saltmarsh

Land Use: wildlife conservation

Primary Threats: disturbance to birds

Protection Status: The site is protected by the National Park Service as part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Conservation Issues: The island is posted, patrolled and is entirely off-limits to visitors during the nesting season from 1 April to 1 September. The island is in an area of high watercraft usage, thus human disturbances are a concern.

Birds: Morgan island has long supported nesting wading birds and seabirds. The site currently has 10 species of nesting colonial waterbirds and approximately 7,000-9,000 nesting pairs of birds (criteria 4f). The islands has one of the largest colonies of wading birds and Laughing Gulls in the state.

Key Bird Species

Criteria

  

Season

Number

  

2

Little Blue Heron

B

180-332 prs.

  

4a

Tricolored Heron

B

138 prs.

  

4a

Cattle Egret

B

1972 prs.

  

4a

White Ibis

B

549 prs.

  

4a

Laughing Gulls

B

4500-8500 prs.

  
  Glossy Ibis B 11  
4a Black-crowned Night Heron B 43  

B=Breeding    FM=Fall Migration     SM=Spring Migration     W=Winter

Sources:

NC Colonial Waterbird database