Seasonal Presence and Relative Frequency of Selected Species
This list summarizes the seasonal presence of selected bird species in North Carolina, indicating whether each species occurs year-round, during the breeding season, or during the non-breeding season (winter and migration). Within each seasonal category, species are numbered and ordered from least to most frequently observed in the United States based on eBird frequency data. This ordering reflects how commonly a species has been observed by U.S. birders over time and is used here as a relative priority indicator, not as a measure of local abundance or the likelihood of encountering a species at a specific site or season within North Carolina.
Bachman’s Sparrow
King Rail
Seaside Sparrow
Piping Plover
Ruffed Grouse
American Woodcock
Reddish Egret
Northern Gannet
Clapper Rail
Northern Bobwhite
Black Skimmer
American Oystercatcher
Yellow-throated Warbler
Royal Tern
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Anhinga
Tricolored Heron
Boat-tailed Grackle
Little Blue Heron
American Black Duck
Great Black-backed Gull
White Ibis
Swainson’s Warbler
Wilson’s Plover
Gull-billed Tern
Chuck-will’s-widow
Cerulean Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Swallow-tailed Kite
Kentucky Warbler
Sandwich Tern
Alder Flycatcher
Canada Warbler
Mississippi Kite
Blue-winged Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Prothonotary Warbler
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Least Tern
Bobolink
Dickcissel
Painted Bunting
Blackburnian Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Willow Flycatcher
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Least Flycatcher
Veery
Orchard Oriole
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Summer Tanager
Black-throated Green Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole
Indigo Bunting
Dovekie
Manx Shearwater
Black-headed Gull
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
Great Shearwater
Long-tailed Jaeger
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Nelson’s Sparrow
Razorbill
Sooty Shearwater
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Parasitic Jaeger
Great Cormorant
Red Knot
Harlequin Duck
Snow Bunting
Sedge Wren
Red-necked Grebe
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black Scoter
Evening Grosbeak
Hudsonian Whimbrel
White-winged Scoter
Red-throated Loon
Tundra Swan
Common Eider
Long-tailed Duck
Brant
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Surf Scoter
Sanderling
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