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Conservation at Bridal Cove
Protecting the Golden-winged Warbler
The golden-winged warbler is a small wood-warbler with gray back and yellow crown. The male has the brightest yellow plumage, a black throat and eye stripe, and both sexes have a yellow wing panel. Their call is a fine high buzz that starts with a high first note.
Like other wood warblers they nest in a cup built on the ground or a bush, and their flight is strong and slightly undulating. They breed between May and September in the Appalachian Mountains, up through the Great Lakes and into upstate New York. North Carolina is the southernmost point of their summer range.
The golden-winged warbler is one of five species designated for special conservation attention by Audubon North Carolina. The birds are losing their breeding habitat to development and pollution. They are designated as a Significantly Rare species in North Carolina and a Federal Species of Special Concern.
Protecting the Tiny Bog Turtle
At almost five inches long, the bog turtle is the smallest in North America. It has a dark-brown shell with distinctive orange, red or yellow markings on the side of its neck.
The turtles live in wetland habitat, in wet meadows and bogs, in western North Carolina. It survives on snails, beetles, worms, plants and berries and spends most of its time under water, buried in mud or hiding in vegetation. They breed in late spring or early summer. Nests are built in high patches of moss or sedges located in sunny areas. The females lay two to three eggs that hatch in August through October.
Bog turtles are state-listed as Threatened in North Carolina, where the biggest threat to populations is habitat destruction, as wetlands are drained or filled for development. People also collect them illegally to sell as pets.