Deveaux
Bank
Located at the mouth of the North Edisto River, between Seabrook Island and Botany Bay, Deveaux Bank is one of the most ecologically significant seabird sanctuaries on the Atlantic Coast.
Whimbrel • Brown Pelicans • Least Terns • Royal Terns • Black Skimmers • Gull-Billed Terns • Sandwich Terns • Common Terns • Laughing Gulls • Wilson's Plovers • American Oystercatchers • Willet • Great Egrets • Snowy Egrets • Tricolored Herons • Ibis •
Whimbrel • Brown Pelicans • Least Terns • Royal Terns • Black Skimmers • Gull-Billed Terns • Sandwich Terns • Common Terns • Laughing Gulls • Wilson's Plovers • American Oystercatchers • Willet • Great Egrets • Snowy Egrets • Tricolored Herons • Ibis •
⛶ Vincent J. Musi for SCDNR
This constantly shifting sand (ephemeral) island supports thousands of nesting and migratory birds each year, including one of the largest brown pelican colonies on the eastern seaboard as well as internationally important populations of whimbrels and other shorebirds who travel through Charleston on their way from Patagonia to the Canadian Arctic.
The island’s history reflects the instability and resilience of barrier island systems; storms and tidal forces have repeatedly reshaped, submerged, and rebuilt Deveaux Bank over the past century.
As a focal site of B.I.R.D., Deveaux Bank offers a powerful case study of ecological adaptation in the face of accelerating coastal change. Focused on Deveaux, the project brings avian research, sediment and engineering studies, oral histories, photography, and environmental storytelling to document the island’s evolving landscape and its importance to both wildlife and coastal communities. Through public-facing educational materials, digital archives, and community programming about Deveaux Bank and other bird sanctuaries, we can plan and dream for a healthier coastal future–of stewardship, habitat protection, and coastal resilience.𖦏 32.550193, -80.181558No dogs are allowed.
No person may enter any area of the preserve designated as a nesting area for birds.
March 15—October 15 the area is closed to all access including the intertidal zone between low and high tide waterlines.
Octber 16—March 14 access is allowed only in the intertidal zone between low and high tide waterlines.
With brown pelicans nesting again on Crab Bank Seabird Sanctuary, SCDNR will extend the closure of the eastern end of Crab Bank beyond the standard reopening date of October 15 to protect vulnerable chicks. Beginning October 16, the western end of the island (intertidal zone only) will reopen for public access, while the eastern end will remain closed through November 15th. Closure boundaries will be marked with signs and buoys, visible at any tide.
No motorized vehicles, bicycles or horses.
Articles and Resources
-
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network
Deveaux Bank is an ephemeral, horseshoe-shaped, uninhabited island at the mouth of the North Edisto River, located along the coast of Charleston County in South Carolina.
-
Leave This Wondrous Island to the Birds
06.21.2021• Deborah Cramer • The New York Times
About 20 miles south of Charleston, S.C., at the mouth of the North Edisto River, a small, horseshoe-shaped sandbar rises above the water. The claim of land is tenuous on Deveaux Bank, about a half-mile offshore. At high tide, it’s three-quarters submerged.
-
Born to die? The lifecycle of South Carolina's 'ephemeral' islands, explained.
07.01.2025 • Jonah Chester • Post and Courier
Deveaux Bank was born from the sea, and to the sea it shall someday return...
-
Deveaux Bank earns extra protections, international designation
03.26.2025 • Melissa Rademaker • WCSC
The sandbar-like island of Deveaux Bank at the mouth of the North Edisto River is fully closed to the public in the summer months in perpetuity and is named a site of international importance in the eyes of a shorebird network.
-
In bid to protect birds, Deveaux Bank is now off-limits to humans for most of year
03.18.2025 • Jonah Chester • Post and Courier
Deveaux Bank is a vanishing, undeveloped patch of land set snug between Edisto and Seabrook islands.
-
Rising seas almost swallowed one of SC's key bird sanctuaries. A new study hopes to save it.
11.26.2024 • Tony Bartelme • Post and Courier
South of Seabrook Island, Deveaux Bank is one of the most important rest stops on the East Coast for migrating shorebirds, including the mysterious whimbrels.
-
As a stunning shorebird sanctuary vanishes, SC wildlife officials resist protections
04.26.2024 • Tony Bartelme • Post and Courier
Two boats full of birders floated slowly down the North Edisto River as the sun set and the moon popped up from a hat-shaped cloud.
-
A migration odyssey: Tagging whimbrel shorebirds
09.12.2021 • CBS Sunday Morning
The whimbrel appear in the late afternoon sky above Deveaux Bank, a tiny island – a sandbar, really – just off the South Carolina coast south of Charleston.
-
The Wild Story of a Whimbrel Migration Mystery
06.15.2021 • Lindsey Liles • Garden & Gun
As we boat up to Deveaux Bank, a horseshoe-shaped sandbar off Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, thousands of feathered bodies drift in the sky, skim the water, and mill on the dunes.
Historical Maps
