Brown booby, painted buntings can be seen in the Carolinas | Bird Notes

There are great birds to be found in the Carolinas year round.

A brown booby has been discovered at Lookout Shoals Lake near Hickory, N.C. Closely related to Northern gannet, a North Atlantic species which overwinters along our coast, the brown booby is a seabird of tropical oceans, and sightings north of the Gulf of Mexico are exceptionally rare; one far from the coast in the North Carolina Piedmont is truly exceptional.

Many other great birds may currently be seen on our area as the breeding season continues in full swing. Painted buntings may be seen at the feeders adjacent to HBSP’s nature center.

A few may also be found in the area of the marsh boardwalk at Vereen Memorial Gardens in Little River. If you’ve never seen one of these amazingly beautiful little birds, I encourage you to make it a point to do so before they completely disappear from the area. Our coastal race is currently considered a Species of Concern as their population numbers are in a state of decline. The primary reason for their dwindling numbers is loss of appropriate habitat.

Painted buntings prefer what’s known as maritime shrub-scrub habitat, brushy thickets adjacent to marsh areas. As appropriate habitat disappears to provide views of marsh areas, so does this amazingly beautiful little bird.

Least terns can also currently be found in our area. The smallest North American tern, the species is listed as State Threatened in South Carolina due to loss/disturbance of breeding habitat. Least terns normally nest in small depressions above the high-tide line on beaches, but continual human disturbance has negatively impacted their ability to reproduce. Some have adapted to using commercial rooftops, and colonies have developed at a few sites in the area. During the season, they can found plying their trade in the surf as well as in lakes and stormwater retention ponds near their breeding sites in the area..

The numbers of our tiniest feathered friends, ruby-throated hummingbirds, will soon be increasing as the first young birds fledge from their tiny nests and begin to make their way in the world beyond. These tiny treasures will be wandering the landscape seeking to avail themselves of all available resources, so keep your feeder clean and maintained with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water with no other additives. Please let me know of the hummingbird activity at your backyard flowers and feeders.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Brown booby, painted buntings can be seen in the Carolinas | Bird Notes."