Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
3.3 Birds 3.3.1 Introduction
North Carolina hosts at least 475 species of migratory and resident birds (Ratcliffe and Wojcik 2022) , most of which are seen by biologists at some point during the year. Managers and researchers have better knowledge and understanding of many of our bird species compared to other taxonomic groups, largely because of the popularity of bird-watching and subsequent ability to collect data from researchers and the public alike. Citizen science is a continuing force in the collection of bird data (e.g., eBird, Nest Watch, Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count, NatureCounts, and Yard Map). Much of the population trend data driving conservation priorities are derived from nationwide citizen science programs like eBird, the USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) (Sauer et al. 2013) and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) (Dunn et al. 2005) . The conservation needs of birds in North Carolina center mainly on habitat management, restoration, and protection, especially of Spruce-Fir forest, bottomland hardwood forest, quality early successional habitats, quality old growth/mature forest, Longleaf Pine communities, riparian and wetland habitats, and coastal beach and estuarine habitats. Information on pelagic bird species is provided in Section 3.11 of this chapter. Natural community descriptions and priority conservation actions are provided in Chapter 4 for important bird habitats. Conservation recommendations for aquatic and terrestrial habitats have been incorporated into the natural community descriptions in Chapter 4. The following sections provide information about birds the Taxa Team identified as SGCN or a priority for research or management. Recommendations for priority survey, monitoring, and research studies, conservation actions, and partnerships are outlined in Section 3.3.8. 3.3.2 Comparison of 2015 and 2025 Priority Species The 2025 Bird Taxa Team evaluated 281 species to identify priority species for SGCN, knowledge gaps, and management concerns. The following table provides a comparison of changes to the number of SGCN and priority species between the 2015 SWAP, the 2020 Addendum 1, and the 2025 SWAP. A comparison with the 2005 SWAP is not included because a different method was used to evaluate and identify SGCN for that version of the Plan.
Bird SGCN and Priority Species by Evaluation Categories and Comparison between SWAPs
Knowledge Gaps
Management Needs
SWAP Date
SGCN
2025
85 77 99
76 82 77
69 77 76
2020 Addendum 1
2015
3 - 33
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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