Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island Audubon Society says you can spot up to 200 types of birds on the island.

These birds are common. These are all either photos we took on Hilton Head Island or birds we see a lot.

Tips

When you see a bird, watch it and note identifying characteristics.

  • Shape
  • Color and markings
  • Movements; how it walks, hops or flies
  • What and how it is eating; Is it hunting? Fishing? Or pecking seeds?
  • Song
  • Current conditions, time of year, time of day, weather

Now, you are ready to look in your field guide.

If you pull out the book right away, by the time you look for the bird again, it’s gone.

Bring a little pad to jot things down, so you don’t forget.

Easy Birds to See

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Great Blue Heron at Blue Water Resort

Great Blue Heron at Blue Water Resort

Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias)

  • The largest of the North American herons
  • Long legs
  • A sinuous neck
  • Thick, daggerlike bill
  • Blue-gray from a distance
  • Wide black stripe over the eye.
Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: White Phase Great Blue Heron and an Alligator at Blue Water Resort

White Phase Great Blue Heron and an Alligator at Blue Water Resort

Great Blue Herons have a white phase, which can be confusing. They look very much like a Great Egret, but the legs are not black.

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Great Egret Photo by Lukasz Lukasik from Wikimedia Commons

Great Egret
Photo by Lukasz Lukasik from Wikimedia Commons

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

  • Black legs year-round
  • Long, moderately heavy, yellow bill
  • No head plumes.
Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Female Anhinga drying her wings on the dock at Blue Water Resort

Female Anhinga drying her wings on the dock at Blue Water Resort

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Anhingas swimming with just their heads above water in Skull Creek

Anhingas swimming with just their heads above water in Skull Creek

Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)

These are the easiest birds on the island to identify. The swim with just their heads sticking out of the water, then stand with their wings out to dry off. The males are all black. The females have a brown head. I just love these guys.

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Bald Eagle and nest by Blue Water Resort

Bald Eagle and nest by Blue Water Resort

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

  • White heads and tails
  • Dark brown bodies and wings mottled with white
  • Bright yellow legs and bills
Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Osprey Photo by Velo Steve from Wikimedia Commons

Osprey
Photo by Velo Steve from Wikimedia Commons

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Osprey Flying Photo by Artur Mikołajewski, modified from Wikimedia Commons

Osprey Flying
Photo by Artur Mikołajewski, modified from Wikimedia Commons

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

  • Large
  • Dark brown upperparts, white underparts, faint breast band, small white head with dark crown, eye stripe and bill
  • Barred flight feathers and dark patches on the fore wing show in flight
  • Grey legs and feet
  • You see them hunting fish near large bodies of water
Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Red-shouldered Hawk Flying Photo by Gouldingken from Wikimedia Commons

Red-shouldered Hawk
Photo by Gouldingken from Wikimedia Commons

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Red-shouldered Hawk Flying Photo by Gouldingken from Wikimedia Commons

Red-shouldered Hawk Flying
Photo by Gouldingken from Wikimedia Commons

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

These are pretty common.

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Pileated Woodpecker Photo by Lorax from Wikimedia Commons

Pileated Woodpecker
Photo by Lorax from Wikimedia Commons

Pileated Woodpecker

These are really easy to identify. You can hear them before you see them.

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Pelican at the Harbor Town Yacht Basin on Hilton Head Island

Pelican at the Harbor Town Yacht Basin on Hilton Head Island

Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

You can’t mistake a pelican. If there are any other kind of pelican’s on Hilton Head, I’ve not seen them.

Easy Birds to See on Hilton Head Island: Female Eastern Towhee Photo by Ken Thomas from Wikimedia Commons

Female Eastern Towhee
Photo by Ken Thomas from Wikimedia Commons

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

  • Plain black back
  • No white spots or wing-bars

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)

These are not gregarious birds. They don’t hang out in large flocks. The ones in flocks are Sanderlings. The bigger ones by themselves are Spotted Sandpipers.

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

Any time you say this is a Sanderling, someone will correct you and tell you it is a sandpiper. Every single time. Yes, it is a kind of small sandpiper, a cute, fat sandpiper. These are the ones in large flocks on the mudflats and sandy beaches.

“This is the little sandpiper that runs up and down the beach “like a clockwork toy,” chasing the receding waves.” Audubon Field Guide to North American Birds

How can you tell a crane from a heron? >
Bird Watching on Hilton Head Island >