BIRDS OF
THE OGEECHEE
Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center is proud to be a part of Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding Trail. The 184-acre Nature Center consists of beautiful bottomland hardwood forests (i.e., swamps) as well as mixed pine hardwood forests that support a wide diversity of birds throughout the year. To date, 146 different species of birds have been recorded at the Savannah Ogeechee Canal Nature Center. The species diversity at the Nature Center varies with each changing season.
An abundance of songbirds, woodpeckers, wading birds and raptors can be found all year-round at the Nature Center. During spring and fall migration, the bottomland hardwood and mixed pine forests across coastal GA serve as important stopover sites for migratory birds as they travel to-and-from wintering grounds in South and Central America to their summer breeding grounds in North America. In the spring, some of the migratory birds will stay in this area to breed, while others will continue on their northward journey after they’ve had a chance to rest and refuel. During fall migration, the travel pattern is reversed as birds return to their wintering grounds, with some species staying to overwinter in this area.
Birds you may find at the Savannah Ogeechee Canal
Year-round birds: Brown Thrasher (GA state bird), Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, Northern Mockingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Mourning Dove, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Bald Eagle, Barred Owl, Wood Duck, Black Vulture and Turkey Vulture.
Spring and Fall Migrants: Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, Worm-eating Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Ovenbird, Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Louisiana Waterthrush, Swainson’s Thrush.
Spring/Summer Residents: Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Parula, Hooded Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher, Swainson’s Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager, Mississippi Kite, Swallow-tailed Kite.
Winter Residents: Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-and White Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Palm Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Hermit Thrush, House Wren, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker.
