Latest posts
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SIB Reports – Here’s to the Birdwatchers!
Birders are “the most curious creature of all. Hyper-focused. Single-minded. Intense. Devoted. They speak in reverent tones and hushed whispers and can walk with preternatural silence across a bed of leaves. They wield binoculars with the nonchalance of a sommelier sampling a Dom Pérignon. They can crouch in shrubbery for endless hours. They speak in…
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SIB Reports – eBird Taxonomy Update Coming Soon!
Cornell Lab All About Birds and eBird will soon be updating our checklists for the upcoming Taxonomy Update. And it’s a big update! According to Cornell Lab All About Birds, “each October, the eBird taxonomy is updated to reflect the latest science on bird classification—including new species, splits, lumps, shuffles, and other changes. This year’s…
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SIB Reports – Brown Pelicans return to nest on Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary
SCDNR reported yesterday, October 8th, that Brown Pelicans had returned to nest on Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary, at Shem Creek. This has prompted the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) to extend seasonal closures on part of the island to protect vulnerable chicks. For full details, please refer to their news release by clicking…
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SIB Reports: A closer look at birds, with the editors of BWD Magazine
With fall migration underway, the birds we’re seeing and hearing are changing from day to day! The editors of BWD (formerly Bird Watchers Digest) have put together a new edition of the book, Bird Watching for Dummies, with fun ways to identify birds, and how to make your garden more attractive to birds. There’s also…
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SIB Reports: State of the Birds
“Five years ago, most ornithologists had a general sense that birds were declining – more than 3 billion birds lost in the past 50 years. In May 2025 a new expansive study of North American bird population trends showed that bird declines have continued, and in some cases accelerated in recent years. But this study…
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SIB Reports: Shorebird Identification
Do you find shorebirds challenging to identify? Even the best birder has trouble with this bird group! And just when you think you’ve got it, they change in color as they molt and go through different seasons. With fall migration underway and our wintering shorebirds returning to our beaches, this is the perfect time to…
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SIB Reports: Storks and Corks
Audubon South Carolina’s Silver Bluff Sanctuary, near Aiken, SC, has managed stork feeding ponds that provide vital foraging and resting habitat for Wood Storks after the breeding season, and before their annual migration. To honor conservation success of Wood Storks, Silver Bluff holds an annual “Storks and Corks” event in late summer. This year, some…
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SIB Reports: Fall Migration and Bird Cast
BirdCast Migration Dashboard is back online for fall migration. Starting Friday, August 1, the site will report daily, radar-based measurements of nocturnal bird migration across every state and county in the contiguous U.S., including estimates of the total number of birds migrating, their directions, speeds, and altitudes. If you’re in the lower 48 states, check…
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SIB Reports: Help wanted siting Painted Buntings
The Town of Kiawah Island recently posted this: HELP WANTED!!!! Look out for Painted Buntings!Last summer, Town biologists, in collaborative study with the University of Georgia and the Smithsonian Institute, fitted 28 Painted Buntings with a light level/air pressure sensing tracking device called a geolocator on Kiawah Island. The birds were also banded with an…
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SIB Reports: Average Peak Migration Dates
Who’s ready for spring? Warmer temperatures, longer days, and the excitement of spring migration! Well, exciting to a birder, anyway. If you’re one of those people who look forward to migration, we want to share a wonderful tool to help you plan! Based on years of data, The Cornell Lab and Colorado State University have…