Birding spots · North Carolina

Best Birding Spots in Carteret County, North Carolina

Fort Macon State Park (Goat Island) leads Carteret County's birding spots with 162 species reported, best in fall. 38 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Fort Macon State Park (Goat Island)	162	671	92	108	85	110
Fort Macon State Park	154	758	74	101	71	113
North Carolina Coastal Federation Preserve (Smyrna)	142	189	56	84	82	94
Fort Macon State Park (Newport River)	130	620	68	82	78	61
Emerald Isle Woods Park	130	311	52	87	63	94
Patsy Pond	127	664	51	89	82	73
Bogue Inlet	126	657	60	80	81	95
Croatan National Forest	121	432	63	81	69	74
Conch Shoal Marsh	121	261	52	73	72	96
Willow Pond	121	243	57	73	61	74
North Carolina Coastal Federation Preserve	114	317	72	74	50	73
Calico Creek	109	221	61	72	56	61
Long Marsh	103	222	40	60	58	73
Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge	100	291	34	74	54	38
Lookout Bight	100	89	18	61	39	45
Croatan National Forest (Peak Swamp)	96	181	16	78	62	15
Town Marsh (Pivers Island)	94	98	39	67	49	56
Fulcher Creek	94	74	72	52	17	10
Theodore Roosevelt State Natural Area	93	329	41	61	55	54
Town Marsh	92	100	52	50	56	46
South Point	85	70	33	41	37	28
Mullet Pond	79	123	6	47	54	48
Croatan National Forest (northeast)	79	61	30	66	27	0
Allen Slough	77	302	28	60	29	38
Croatan National Forest (northeast)	76	127	5	60	46	29
Theodore Roosevelt State Natural Area (south)	76	81	25	44	35	28
Willow Pond (Eastmouth Bay)	74	51	0	40	32	37
Theodore Roosevelt State Natural Area (southwest)	69	74	23	36	36	29
Old Burying Grounds	67	260	37	50	30	23
Oyster Creek	53	59	36	27	11	20
Pivers Island	53	51	8	41	13	27
Birding spot near Atlantic	167	599	99	129	98	105
Birding spot near Davis (Smyrna Creek)	73	50	34	24	37	24
Birding spot near Beaufort	68	95	31	60	23	35
Birding spot near Davis	67	54	38	27	35	3
Birding spot near Emerald Isle (northwest)	64	90	16	45	30	22
Birding spot near Emerald Isle (Sound of the Sea)	56	96	18	28	24	22
Birding spot near Emerald Isle	48	104	19	30	18	28