South Carolina is a birder’s paradise, with more than 480 species having been recorded in the state. Christmas bird counts along the coast often yield some of the highest species totals on the entire East Coast. Highly sought-after birds—such as wood stork, swallow-tailed kite, purple gallinule, red-cockaded woodpecker, swainson’s warbler, painted bunting, and Bachman’s sparrow—can be found with ease during the appropriate season.

Birding South Carolina provides detailed descriptions of forty premier birding locations across the state. For each location, detailed information is given on which birds one is likely to see—whether in cypress swamps or salt marshes, on beaches or mountains—and when to find them.