This list of birds of North Carolina includes species documented in the U.S. state of North Carolina and accepted by the North Carolina Bird Records Committee (NCBRC) of the Carolina Bird Club. As of January 2020, there are 479 species and a species pair definitively included in the official list. Thirteen additional species, one of which is identified only at the genus level, are on the list but classed as provisional.[1] Two "non-established" species are also included here. Of the resulting 486 species, 96 are rare anywhere in the state, 91 are rare in some part of the state or in a single season, six have been introduced to North America, and four are extinct. Additional accidental species have been added from different sources.
This list is presented in the taxonomic sequence of the Check-list of North and Middle American Birds, 7th edition through the 62nd Supplement, published by the American Ornithological Society (AOS).[2] Common and scientific names are also those of the Check-list, except that the common names of families are from the Clements taxonomy because the AOS list does not include them.
Unless otherwise noted, all species listed below are considered to occur regularly in North Carolina as permanent residents, summer or winter visitors, or migrants. The following tags are used to annotate some species:
- (R) - Rare - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found anywhere in North Carolina
- (RC) - Rare coastal - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found along the coast
- (RD) - Rare downstate - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found in the southern part of the state
- (RI) - Rare inland - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found away from the coast
- (RM) - Rare in mountains - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found in the mountainous part of the state
- (RS) - Rare in spring - a species whose report is reviewable by the NCBRC if the bird is found in the spring
- (I) - Introduced - a species introduced to North America by humans, either directly or indirectly
- (E) - Extinct - a recent species that no longer exists
- (P) - Provisional list - a species that has been approved by the NCBRC but is known only from sight records
- ^ "Official List of the Birds of North Carolina". North Carolina Bird Records Committee. January 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
- ^ "Check-list of North and Middle American Birds". American Ornithological Society. June 29, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.