Hammock Coast Birding Festival

Registration for the 2024 South Carolina’s Hammock Coast Birding Festival opens Monday, Dec 11, 2023, at noon.

The festival will be held Friday–Sunday, Feb. 9–11, 2024, with welcome packets to be picked up Thursday, Feb. 8.

Birders have flocked to South Carolina’s Hammock Coast for years to enjoy our unique coastal area that’s home, throughout the year, to more than 300 species of birds. Southern Living noted that the area is the best birding site on the East Coast, and experts at Clemson University have said the region offers the best birding opportunities in South Carolina.

When it comes to an overall birding experience, there’s nothing like the Hammock Coast with its miles of pristine beaches, marshes and rivers, as well as tens of thousands of acres of protected forests, all teeming with birds. That’s why we’ve teamed up with four of our premier birding locations for our event. Our area also has locations where the increasingly rare Red-cockaded Woodpecker can be found, as well as other birds, such as the Swallow-tailed Kite, Roseate Spoonbill, and an impressive list of rarities. Nestled between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, the Hammock Coast has long been a draw for vacationers seeking a more laid-back and nature-centric vacation, and birds seek out our area, too — either as an all-year-long home or a stopover on their trips north and south.

Our festival will offer tours and access to Brookgreen Gardens, Hobcaw Barony, Huntington Beach State Park, and the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center. Those four areas combined offer more than 50,000 acres of protected land where birds of all kinds live and thrive.

Also, part of the festival will be a screening of “Purple Haze: A Conservation Film,” a great movie about Purple Martins; several lectures, and more.

Keynote speaker for the 2024 Festival will be Emmy Award winner Dr. Patrick McMillan, Botanist, Conservation Biologist, Plantsman, Horticulturist, Botanical Garden Management Specialist, Author, Television and Radio Personality, TV Producer! He is best known as the Emmy Award-winning host, co-creator and writer of the popular ETV nature program “Expeditions with Patrick McMillan.” Patrick is a longtime fan of birding along South Carolina’s Hammock Coast and will bring a wealth of knowledge about birds here in the Lowcountry.

Visit our website for updates.

Registration is limited, so early registration is recommended!