If bird watching is one of your favorite pastimes, flock to South Carolina and zoom in on hot birding spots at our state parks – even in the winter. You’ll find an array of birds soaring at several parks including the bald eagle, our national emblem, and hawks. Check out the Guide to Birding in South Carolina for more information.

Coastal Birding

Besides three miles of undeveloped beaches, Huntington Beach State Park is also home to more than 300 recorded species of birds. Considered one of the best birding spots in South Carolina, Huntington Beach is particularly known for migratory birds in search of the warmer waters of South Carolina.  Print and check off the birds you see from our birding checklist.

Get a bird’s eye view of hundreds of bird species from the lighthouse at Hunting Island State Park. Colorful painted buntings, slender terns and white egrets all make the park their home. And birders can spot skimmers, tanagers, orioles, pelicans, oystercatchers and wood storks. Egrets and herons also can be found in abundance at this prime birding destination.

Mountain Birding

Table Rock and Caesars Head state parks are perfect choices for mountain birding. The high points of Table Rock and Caesars Head provide great vantage points for hawk watching.

Table Rock, designated an “Important Bird Area in South Carolina,” is home to such birds as falcons, ravens and warblers. In February, the park hosts a winter bird count in support of the Great Backyard Bird Count.

From 3,200 feet above sea level, birders can experience a panoramic view of Caesars Head coupled with the stunning sight of hundreds of hawks, kites, eagles, falcons and other birds. Mark your calendar to encounter these sights during the annual Hawk Watch program set for each fall.

Bird Watching in Other State Parks

Cheraw State Park protects the red cockaded woodpecker and its habitat, a mature longleaf pine environment. These preservations have earned the park national certification from the Audubon Society. The park's feathered populace are: anhinga, bald eagles, brown-headed nuthatches, great-crested flycatchers, summer tanagers and wood ducks.

A nesting pair of bald eagles is well known at Landsford Canal State Park. The feathery duo has lived at the park for more than 10 years. Visitors can also observe herons, ospreys, and several hawk and owl species. During the spring and summer neo-tropical warblers visit the park.

So what are you waiting for? Grab your favorite pair of binoculars and be free as a bird at South Carolina’s bird watching state parks.

For More Information

• South Carolina Guide to Birding