About the Club

Mission Statement

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


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The Carolina Bird Club, Inc., is a non-profit educational and scientific association open to anyone interested in the study and conservation of wildlife, particularly birds.

The Club meets each winter, spring, and fall at different locations in the Carolinas. Meeting sites are selected to give participants an opportunity to see many different kinds of birds. Guided field trips and informative programs are combined for an exciting weekend of meeting with people who share an enthusiasm and concern for birds.

The Club offers research grants in avian biology for undergraduate and graduate students, and scholarships for young birders.

The Club publishes two print publications (now also available online). The Chat is a quarterly ornithological journal that contains scientific articles, reports of bird records committees and bird counts, and general field notes on bird sightings. CBC Newsletter is published bimonthly and includes birding articles and information about meetings, field trips, and Club news.

The Club provides this website to all for free.

By becoming a member, you support the activities of the Club, receive reduced registration fee for meetings, can participate in bonus field trips, and receive our publications.

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Field trip info

Return to Litchfield Beach for the 2022 Fall Meeting, Sept 29-Oct 2!

Historical note: This meeting had to be cancelled due to the approach of Hurricane Ian, which eventually made landfall near the meeting site on September 30.

Are you a birder looking for that warbler or shorebird species that eluded you during Spring migration? Or, do you simply enjoy seeing any bird, be it migratory or resident, passerine, waders, raptors or shorebirds, alongside fellow appreciative birders? Perhaps you are hoping for a chance to see one of the occasional rarities that drop in during Fall migration along the coast? Maybe you are hoping to experience a migration fallout? Frankly I just love birding with the best birders in North and South Carolina! If any of these are among your birding ambitions, let's see what might happen. Join us at Litchfield Beach, SC for a weekend of birding for our 2022 Fall Meeting.

Yes, as a club we often return to Litchfield Beach and with good reason. We are just a very few miles from South Carolina's crown jewel birding location, Huntington Beach State Park. Of course, we are organizing field trips to other favorites including Bulls Island, Santee Coastal WMA, Santee Delta WMA, Waccamaw NWR, Tom Yawkey WMA, Myrtle Beach State Park, Brookgreen Gardens, Hemingway Sewage Treatment Ponds, and more. We are looking to add some new destinations as well that will include sites along the Black River (a conservation topic of our Friday night speakers) such as the Black River Cypress Preserve Peninsula Tract and the Rocky Point Community Forest (which our club helped fund a few years back). We have also booked a birding tour of Hobcaw Barony, another premier birding destination which in recent years was not available. And we may have one or two other new locales to offer. Some of the species we hope to see include Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Wilson's Plover, Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Marbled Godwit, Short Billed Dowitcher, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, Limpkin, Black Crowned Night-Heron, Anhinga, Clapper Rail, and Common Ground-Dove. Registration information, more meeting details, and trip descriptions will be included in the next Newsletter. Come on back to the South Carolina Coast and help us break that 200 bird species count once again!

The dates for our meeting are Friday and Saturday, September 30th and October 1st. Our headquarters are located at the Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort at 14276 Oceans Highway, Pawley's Island, SC 29585. Call NOW (888-734-8228) for reservations. Litchfield lies halfway between Georgetown and Myrtle Beach, SC. The accommodations at the hotel, both hotel rooms and meeting rooms, are excellent. We have reserved rooms (just let them know you are with Carolina Bird Club) until August 14!!!

So please either go online and book your reservations Litchfieldbeach.com/reservations and use the Group code: Carolinabirdclub2022 or Call (+888)-734-8228, group code Carolinabirdclub2022. Get your reservation in before August 14 to get the reduced rates:

A general theme has evolved in our planning for our evening events: A Celebration of Conservation and Birds.

At our Friday evening event, Dr. Maria Whitehead, an ornithologist-conservationist and Senior Project Manager of the Open Space Institute, and Dale Threatt-Taylor, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy in South Carolina speak about their work to bring to fruition a new SC state park, the Black River State Park. To paraphrase Maria, to save the birds, you must conserve the land they need. These 2 organizations have been at the forefront of the conservation effort and successes along these close-by rivers: the Black, Pee Dee, Santee and Waccamaw. We may hear a bit about this work as well. Wildlife and people both benefit from this conservation. Many of our at-risk bird species, such as the Swallow-tailed Kite, have a safe place to land and raise their young. And we birders have places to observe and celebrate!

Our Saturday evening keynote speaker is none other than our very own Craig Watson, chair of our CBC Grants Committee and US Fish and Wildlife Scientist who works as the Southeast Coordinator of the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture (ACJV). Craig will give an overview of the goals and structure of ACJV and then talk specifically about active projects outlined in the Salt Marsh Conservation Plan including ongoing research on the Saltmarsh sparrow, the American Black Duck and the Black Rail. Additionally, Craig will share with us some of the projects that the CBC Grants Committee has funded in the last few years.