Come to the CBC 75th Anniversary Spring Meeting!
Raleigh, North Carolina — May 4–5, 2012

Renew CBC birding friendships and acquaintances from years past; walk in the footsteps of our founding members; join our cadre of young field trip leaders as we pass on the CBC legacy; reminisce about times past; and hear acclaimed author Scott Weidensaul.

Map — Field Trips — Registration Form

Carolina Bird Club

Club News

How much do you know about CBC history? Attendees of the 75th anniversary Spring Meeting in Raleigh competed for the high score on a history quiz—Now with the answers. How well can you do?

Spring meeting in Raleigh: About 187 participants enjoyed the wonderful CBC 75th anniversary meeting on May 4–5 in Raleigh, NC. The many field trips collectively observed 133 species of birds. At the Friday banquet we enjoyed decade-by-decade reminiscences of the club's history, complete with a challenging history quiz, and on Saturday Scott Weidensaul presented perhaps the most outstanding lecture that we have had, on the subject “Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds”. A big thanks to Lena Gallitano and Gail Lankford for putting the meeting together, and to David and Judy Smith for organizing the field trips. Through the efforts of Katherine Higgins, registration for this meeting was partially online. Could fully-online registration be here for the Fall meeting? Watch this space.

Birds of North Carolina:
their Distribution and Abundance

The Birds of North Carolina is now hosted at carolinabirdclub.org! This site aims to provide a compendium of all of the bird species recorded in North Carolina, with general information about their distribution in the state. It is a huge project by Harry LeGrand, with assistance from Ali Iyoob and John Haire, and technical wizardry by Tom Howard. Much of the data that underlies the project has come from Carolina Bird Club members, as published in Briefs for the Files and General Field Notes in The Chat, and now it has come home to the club web site, after a year at nature123.net. The permanent link “Birds of NC” in the navigation bar at the left will take you there.

Nebraska crane trip: The report is in! Excellent birds were seen on this trip.

Southport, NC Winter Meeting 2012: Carolina birders enjoyed a wonderful winter meeting at Southport, seeing a total of 162 species. Thanks to meeting organizers John Voigt and John Ennis and their helpers for a well-organized, successful meeting.

Alaska Fabulous scenery, excellent mammal viewing, and birds found nowhere else on the continent. Alaska is a must for every North American birder! Join us this June (Registration is now waiting-list only).

Beaufort, SC Fall Meeting 2011: By all accounts the Beaufort meeting was greatly enjoyed by all. The total of 203 species may have set a new record for meeting bird lists.

Band codes: MODO? RTHU? NSWO? Would you like to understand more about those four-letter bird codes? Read more about them.

Chat searchable database: There is a wealth of information about the birds of the Carolinas published in The Chat, and as another step toward making it more accessible, a searchable database covering all of the Briefs for the Files and Bird Records Committee reports from volumes 51–70 (years 1987–2006) of The Chat is now available. When was a Red-necked Stint last seen? Little Stint? Have we ever had a good year for Evening Grosbeaks? Find the answers quickly here.

Cumulative Chat index: There is a wealth of information about the birds of the Carolinas published in The Chat, and as another step toward making it more accessible, a 30-year index to The Chat, so far covering volumes 45–74, years 1981–2010, is now available.

Birding North Carolina, the long-awaited guide to birding sites in the state, has now been published. Edited by Marshall Brooks and Mark Johns, this book features the best birding sites in North Carolina as chosen and described by the members of the Carolina Bird Club. The book is available from Globe Pequot Press.

Birding North Carolina was undertaken by the Carolina Bird Club for two purposes: to promote birding in North Carolina and to make birding more accessible to all skill levels of birders by providing information regarding the wonderful birding opportunities that we have in our state; and to further bird conservation by dedicating the income from the guide to bird conservation projects. Proceeds will go into a special account of the Carolina Bird Club to be used to support and further bird conservation projects in the state.

There are so many birding locations in North Carolina that not all of them could be included in the printed book. Descriptions of an additional 44 locations are published exclusively on this web site. Click on "Birding Sites: North Carolina" in the frame at left.

The Carolina Bird Club is a non-profit organization which represents and supports the birding community in the Carolinas through its official website, publications, meetings, workshops, trips, and partnerships, whose mission is

To promote the observation, enjoyment, and study of birds.
To provide opportunities for birders to become acquainted, and to share information and experience.
To maintain well-documented records of birds in the Carolinas.
To support the protection and conservation of birds and their habitats and foster an appreciation and respect of natural resources.
To promote educational opportunities in bird and nature study.
To support research on birds of the Carolinas and their habitats.

Membership is open to those interested in the study and conservation of wildlife, particularly birds. Is that you? Then join the club.

The Club meets three times a year (Spring, Fall, and Winter) at different locations in North or South Carolina, or occasionally in neighboring states.