Dunahoe Bay

Location:
Robeson County           Total Size:  100 acres

Site Description: Dunahoe Bay is an undisturbed and permanently-flooded Carolina Bay located near the town of Red Springs.  It is an excellent example of a Carolina Bay and supports a significant colony of nesting colonial waterbirds.

Habitats: Permanently flooded Carolina Bay dominated by pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) and black gum (Nyssa biflora). Open water areas are dominated by waterlilly (Nymphaea odorata) and bladderworts (Utricularia inflata and U. purpurea).

Land Use: wildlife conservation, other conservation

Primary Threats: water pollution, agriculture conversion, water diversion, disturbance to birds

Protection Status:  The Nature Conservancy currently owns the entire Carolina Bay and a partial buffer zone.

Conservation Issues:
  Efforts should be made to prevent human disturbance during the nesting season (March-August) and secure a buffer sufficient to maintain the integrity of the Bay.

Birds:
This site supports North Carolina's largest colony of nesting Anhingas and is one of the State's largest inland waterbird colonies.

Key Bird Species

Criteria

 

Season

Number

 
4a Cattle Egret B 700 prs.  
4a Anhinga B 190 prs.  
4f colonial waterbirds B 935 prs  
  Great Egret B 5 prs.  
  Snowy Egret B 12 prs.  
  Little Blue Heron B 28 prs.  
         

B=Breeding    FM=Fall Migration     SM=Spring Migration     W=Winter

Sources:

NC Colonial Waterbird database