Piedmont birders can hit new trail

Addition to state project includes the Triangle

A few yards down a trail at Durant Nature Park, the small group of bird-watchers paused when naturalist educator John Connors spotted a small brown bird perched on a bird box. It flew away, then returned.

"That is a brown-headed nuthatch," said Connors, who has been tracking birds at the 237-acre Raleigh park for 25 years. "That is cool. It's nesting."

Little did the nuthatch know that its chosen nesting spot was now featured in a new guide and online as part of the Piedmont section of the N.C. Birding Trail.

Representatives of state parks, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, Audubon North Carolina, N.C. State University and other agencies gathered Thursday at Durant Nature Park, a green jewel of a city park not far from Capital Boulevard, to celebrate completion of the second phase of the state birding trail and publication of a companion guide.

Supporters say that mapping North Carolina's good birding areas and organizing them into marketable clusters will help attract visitors, promote eco-tourism in North Carolina and encourage people to get outdoors. The visitors' spending on food, lodging and transportation will boost local economies and raise awareness of the need to protect the areas.

"Birds are colorful," Connors said. "They sing. They're out in the day time. That's really a great introduction for people to enjoy nature. When you have a birding trail, you get people to come to the area."

Durant is among 103 parks, wildlife areas and private properties included in the Piedmont section of the trail, which extends across central North Carolina from Interstate 95 to Interstate 77 near Statesville. The first section of trail covering coastal North Carolina, east of Interstate 95, was completed last year, and a third guide covering Western North Carolina is under way.

"The birding trail started out as a dream," said Chris Canfield, executive director of Audubon North Carolina, noting it would link conservation and tourism. "This is one of the most important places for birding in the country."

Canfield said that Texas was one of the first states to create a birding trail, which has proved to be an economic boon. A study of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, which consists of 300 sites, found that birders' trips lasted a week and travelers spent about $78 a person a day within the region.

Lewis Ledford, director of state parks, said the birding trail features 29 state parks, including 15 in the Piedmont. Many are classified as important birding areas.

"Natural resources are like economic engines in our state," Ledford said. "We need to protect these resources."

To help build support around the trail, Stacy Tomas, an assistant professor of parks, recreation and tourism management in NCSU's College of Natural Resources, has held workshops to build a network of birder-friendly businesses near the trail.

"Birders are an affluent market," Tomas said. "They are going to bird, but they are going to want to know where to stay, where to eat and where to sleep. You have to have a 'What's in it for me?' for businesses."