Visiting Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Scotland Neck, NC

My mom and I wanted to break up our drive home from Biltmore Estate and decided to do that by Visiting Sylvan Heights Bird Park in Scotland Neck, NC.  I had only found it by googling but when we were Visiting OBX Lizard Land the owner mentioned it to me again so I figured it was a sign.  It was time to see some birds!

Scotland Neck isn’t exactly on the beaten path but it’s a beautiful drive.  And it is only about 90 minutes from my hometown so once we finished it was a pleasant ride home.  The town is adorable and has this one quirk I have never seen in a little town- you park in the middle of the road instead of just on the curbs!

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How Do I Get Tickets?

At the time of publication (5/21) ticket prices for Sylvan Heights Bird Park are as follows:

Adults age 13 to 61 are $12
Seniors 62+ are $11
Children ages 3 to 12 are $9
Children 2 and under are FREE!

We just grabbed our tickets at the park as we didn’t know what time we would arrive.  You can get them online however if you would like.

We also purchased food at the ticket office to feed the flamingos, ducks and parakeets.  Since we were their first visitors in the morning we had a great time feeding them because they were hungry!  Absolutely worth the extra money.

Just a few more hours down the road check out How To Get a Free Wine Tasting at Biltmore Estate!

What Happens When I Am Visiting Sylvan Heights Bird Park?

The park was actually much nicer than I expected it to be.  When you come out the back door you are immediately greeted by the sounds of noisy flamingos and ducks hanging out together.  Also in that exact moment I realized I know almost nothing about birds.  I had no clue what I was looking at.  But even with that I really enjoyed it.

Using the map we walked around to each habitat- which are divided into different parts of the world.  We discovered some universal bird truths- geese are jerks no matter what continent they live on, birds are LOUD, and all birds can look at you with condescending eyes.  I have never felt so judged before!  Here are some photos of our time in the park:

Flamingos were very fun to watch.  The way they balance was incredible.  

I thought this guy was so beautiful! 

We sat for a while and watched these two work on their nest.  It was impressive.

Some of the habitats were beautiful!  

My mom tried to feed this guy with the food we bought with our tickets.

After she got bit she saw the sign.

His balance made me jealous.

I refrained but I wanted to slide. 

We didn’t want to interrupt his nap.  

This guy was super vocal and he and his friends were constantly flying around us.  I could not get a good picture but it was really cool.   

I was impressed with the signs around the park.  Not knowing anything about birds wasn’t a problem as they had information everywhere.  

Inside The Landing Zone you can feed the flamingos and the parakeets with the stuff you bought from the box office!  

These guys were a little camera shy!  

Feeding flamingos was fun- they are super gentle but very competitive with each other.  

He had all kinds of personality! 

A Frugal Chick’s Thoughts

It takes about two hours to go through the park so I felt like the pricing was fair.  There are picnic areas both inside and outside the park so you can save some money by bringing your own lunch/snacks.

It’s a good environment for strollers and there are plenty of benches inside if someone needs to rest while they are visiting.

And be sure to stop by La Casetta Italian Restaurant in their downtown for lunch.  It was less than a five minute drive from the park and the food was fantastic.  And the pizza slices are huge so if there are just two of you and you don’t eat a ton don’t get the biggest pizza!  Leftovers for days!