Status & Distribution - Overview
Each of the ~400 species of birds that have been recorded in Virginia Beach has its own unique distribution. Whether that distribution pertains to its desired habitat or range (georgraphical/spatial), or the times of the year in which the species is likely to be found (seasonality), in order to find & observe birds in the wild, one must study their distributional patterns. Fortunately for folks who live in Virginia, two amazing tools exist solely to help birders learn these patterns. Those resources are, 1). Virginia's Birdlife: An Annotated Checklist, 4th Edition, and 2). eBird. The first is a comprehensive guide to the distributions of birds within the three major regions of the state of Virginia, the Mountains & Valleys, the Piedmont, and the Coastal Plain. The second, eBird, is a massive online database of birder-supplied checklists of species observed on any given outing into nature. The combination of these two resources are a major influence for this website, and I have borrowed heavily from each in order to provide specific listings to Virginia Beach and the surrounding region.