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
Kites
Mississippi Kites
Ospreys
Ospreys
Owls
Barred Owls
Vultures
Black Vultures
Turkey Vultures
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
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
Flycatchers
Acadian Flycatchers
Gnatcatchers
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers
Kinglets
Golden-Crowned Kinglets
Ruby-Crowned Kinglets
Nuthatches
Brown-Headed Nuthatches
White-Breasted Nuthatches
Sparrows
Chipping Sparrows
Field Sparrows
Fox Sparrows
Song Sparrows
Swamp Sparrows
White-Throated Sparrows
Swallows
Barn Swallows
Treecreepers
Brown Creepers
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
Wrens
Carolina Wrens
Winter Wrens
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
Chats
Yellow-Breasted Chats
Corvids
American Crows
Blue Jays
Finches
American Goldfinches
House Finches
Pine Siskins
Flycatchers
Eastern Kingbirds
Eastern Phoebes
Great Crested Flycatchers
Icterids
Boat-Tailed Grackles
Brown-Headed Cowbirds
Common Grackles
Red-Winged Blackbirds
Rusty Blackbirds
Mimids
Brown Thrashers
Gray Catbirds
Northern Mockingbirds
Sparrows
Dark-Eyed Juncos
Eastern Towhees
Starlings
Common Starlings
Thrushes
American Robins
Eastern Bluebirds
Hermit Thrushes
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
Geese
Canadian Geese
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
Ibises
White Ibises
Kingfishers
Belted Kingfishers
Loons
Common Loons
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
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.
We get a lot of those birds… The name of the one that puzzles me most is the red bellied woodpecker… They have a red head but no red belly… At least not the ones that come here… Great pictures though…
Thanks Ken! Yes, red-bellied woodpeckers are confusing. There is a small, red patch on their bellies often hidden by their other feathers. Red-headed woodpeckers’ faces are full red while red-bellied woodpeckers have white faces.
BEAUTIFUL photography! Makes me want to step outside…on second thought, I AM stepping outside?
Thank you! Great, enjoy your time outside and hopefully you spot some feathered friends 🙂
I didn’t know you have seen that many different birds.
Nice pictures.
Hopefully you will be able to see some more this spring/summer.
Yes! I’m becoming a proper birder now 😉
We get a lot of those birds… The name of the one that puzzles me most is the red bellied woodpecker… They have a red head but no red belly… At least not the ones that come here… Great pictures though…
Thanks Ken! Yes, red-bellied woodpeckers are confusing. There is a small, red patch on their bellies often hidden by their other feathers. Red-headed woodpeckers’ faces are full red while red-bellied woodpeckers have white faces.