Zeke’s Island Reserve

Discover one of the most unusual areas on the North Carolina coast.

Zeke’s Island Reserve is located in the Cape Fear River basin. This place was one of the three original National Estuarine Research Reserve components dedicated by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and the Division of Coastal Management. Established in 1985, it features a lagoon-like inter-tidal complex and is one of the most important shorebird feeding habitats on the East Coast. Bird species such as dunlin, black-bellied plovers, short-billed dowitchers, white ibis, and great blue herons as well as black ducks, mallards, and pintails have been recorded at Zeke's Island.

While shoals and marshes have continued to appear and disappear within the basin; however, Zeke’s, No Name, and North Islands have remained stable relative to the beach barrier spit, even though their shorelines periodically increase and erode. Zeke’s and No Name Islands have elevations of only a few feet, while North Island has several scattered dune systems, one of which reaches 20 feet above sea level.

The unusual characteristics of the site have created a variety of habitats, including tidal flats, salt marshes, shrub thickets, maritime forests, sand dunes, ocean beaches, and more. Fish, shrimp, crabs, clams, and oysters use the estuary as a nursery ground. Both the Atlantic loggerhead and green sea turtles, federally protected threatened species, occasionally nest on the site’s open beaches too. Look no further for a premier birding region on the east coast.