North Carolina and South Carolina are home to over 400 bird species. Avid birders can view many of these in their backyards or local green spaces. Some of these feathered beauties are seen all over the Carolinas while others only inhabit the mountain, inland, or coastal regions.

Below are birds I have personally spotted in the Carolinas. There are other species not listed which you may encounter on your travels.

Birds of Prey

Also called raptors, birds of prey typically include buzzards, eagles, falcons, hawks, kites, ospreys, owls, and vultures that hunt and feed on vertebrates.

Eagles

  • Bald Eagles

Hawks

  • Red-Shouldered Hawks
Red-Shouldered Hawk
Red-Shouldered Hawk

Kites

  • Mississippi Kites

Ospreys

  • Ospreys

Owls

  • Barred Owls
Barred Owl
Barred Owl

Vultures

  • Black Vultures
  • Turkey Vultures
Black Vulture
Black Vulture

Hummingbirds

These birds were named for the humming sound their wings make as they flap. Hummingbirds can hover in place longer than other birds and are the only ones able to fly backward.

Hummingbirds

  • Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Songbirds (Small)

When I think of small songbirds, chickadees, gnatcatchers, kinglets, nuthatches, sparrows, swallows, titmice, treecreepers, vireos, warblers, and wrens come to mind.

Chickadees and Titmice

  • Black-Capped Chickadees
  • Carolina Chickadees
  • Tufted Titmice
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

Flycatchers

  • Acadian Flycatchers

Gnatcatchers

  • Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Kinglets

  • Golden-Crowned Kinglets
  • Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

Nuthatches

  • Brown-Headed Nuthatches
  • White-Breasted Nuthatches

Sparrows

  • Chipping Sparrows
  • Field Sparrows
  • Fox Sparrows
  • Song Sparrows
  • Swamp Sparrows
  • White-Throated Sparrows
White-Throated Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow

Swallows

  • Barn Swallows

Treecreepers

  • Brown Creepers
Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper

Vireos

  • Blue-Headed Vireos

Warblers

  • American Redstarts
  • Black-and-White Warblers
  • Black-Throated Blue Warblers
  • Black-Throated Green Warblers
  • Common Yellowthroats
  • Magnolia Warblers
  • Northern Parulas
  • Ovenbirds
  • Pine Warblers
  • Prothonotary Warblers
  • Yellow-Rumped Warblers
Black-and-White Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler

Wrens

  • Carolina Wrens
  • Winter Wrens
Carolina Wren
Carolina Wren

Songbirds (Medium to Large)

Cardinals, crows, finches, flycatchers, jays, magpies, mockingbirds, ravens, starlings, thrashers, thrushes, and waxwings all fall into what I consider medium to large songbirds.

Cardinals

  • Blue Grosbeaks
  • Indigo Buntings
  • Northern Cardinals
Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal

Chats

  • Yellow-Breasted Chats

Corvids

  • American Crows
  • Blue Jays

Finches

  • American Goldfinches
  • House Finches
  • Pine Siskins
American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch

Flycatchers

  • Eastern Kingbirds
  • Eastern Phoebes
  • Great Crested Flycatchers

Icterids

  • Boat-Tailed Grackles
  • Brown-Headed Cowbirds
  • Common Grackles
  • Red-Winged Blackbirds
  • Rusty Blackbirds
Red-Winged Blackbird
Red-Winged Blackbird

Mimids

  • Brown Thrashers
  • Gray Catbirds
  • Northern Mockingbirds
Brown Thrasher
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird

Sparrows

  • Dark-Eyed Juncos
  • Eastern Towhees
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee

Starlings

  • Common Starlings

Thrushes

  • American Robins
  • Eastern Bluebirds
  • Hermit Thrushes
American Robin
American Robin

Waxwings

  • Cedar Waxwings

Water Birds

I grouped birds that are found in and around water such as anhingas, bitterns, cormorants, ducks, egrets, geese, herons, ibises, loons, pelicans, plovers, sandpipers, swans, and terns.

Cormorants

  • Double-Crested Cormorants

Ducks

  • Buff Orpingtons
  • Duclair Ducks
  • Mallards
  • Muscovy Ducks
  • Swedish Blues
  • Wood Ducks
Mallad
Mallad
Muscovy Duck
Muscovy Duck

Geese

  • Canadian Geese
Canadian Goose
Canadian Goose

Gulls

  • Laughing Gulls
  • Ring-Billed Gulls

Herons and Egrets

  • Great Blue Herons
  • Great Egrets
  • Green Herons
  • Little Blue Herons
  • Snowy Egrets
  • Tricolored Herons
  • Yellow-Crowned Night-Herons
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Green Heron
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron

Ibises

  • White Ibises

Kingfishers

  • Belted Kingfishers

Loons

  • Common Loons
Common Loon
Common Loon

Pelicans

  • Brown Pelicans

Plovers

  • Killdeer

Skimmers and Terns

  • Black Skimmers
  • Least Terns

Woodpeckers

Using their beaks, these birds drill holes in trees to nest and roost. Their diet includes fruit, eggs, small animals, and tree sap. Often, I spot woodpeckers because of their drumming or chirping calls.

Woodpeckers

  • Downy Woodpeckers
  • Northern Flickers
  • Pileated Woodpeckers
  • Red-Bellied Woodpeckers
  • Red-Headed Woodpeckers
  • Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers
Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Bellied Woodpecker

I love spotting a new bird and trying to figure out which species it is! There are always birds to see or songs to hear on hikes in the Carolinas.

What is your favorite bird? Comment below!

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