Sylvan Heights Bird Park

Situated in the northeastern part of North Carolina, the town of Scotland Neck was named in 1722, when Scots settled in this Halifax County region around a "neck" of the Roanoke River. As of the 2010 census, the town population of this little burg was a mere 2,059 residents. But just a hop and a skip outside the city limits you'll find a different, and slightly larger, population thriving in a bird park that is home to 3,000 birds representing 140 species. The world's largest collection of exotic and rare waterfowl is right here in North Carolina near the little town of Scotland Neck. 

The founders of Sylvan Heights Bird Park came from England to the mountain town of Sylva in 1981 to begin a breeding program for rare waterfowl from around the world. In 1989, they moved their entire collection of birds to Scotland Neck. Not only has Sylvan Heights Bird Park been instrumental in aiding preservation of several endangered waterfowl species, they serve as an international center for avicultural training and research. In 2006 they worked with the guidance of the NC Zoological Association to open the park to the public and now the park sees more than 55,000 visitors each year.

And if all that isn't enough, Sylvan Heights is just a fun place to visit. I drove up to Scotland Neck last June along with a friend, thinking we would find ample opportunities to photograph beautiful birds. We took our cameras and spent a couple of memorable hours at Sylvan Heights, and we were in photographer's heaven. From the African Jacana to the Wandering Whistling Duck, the variety of birds is astounding. For the little ones, there is a huge parakeet enclosure you can walk into and instantly, you're covered with sweet little parakeets. 

And did I mention the pink flamingos?  While we might frown at having a pink flamingo as an ornament on our lawn, it turns out that you can't have too many pink flamingos in a bird park. One of the things we learned during our visit is that the intensity of a flamingo's color depends on what is in the diet they consume.

We drove into Scotland Neck afterwards and had a really nice lunch at La Cassetta Italian Restaurant. Another great day trip in the awesome Old North State!

You can read more about the bird park on their fantastic website:     https://shwpark.com/
You can read about Scotland Neck and the surrounding area here:  https://www.townofscotlandneck.com/