Wings Over Water: Where Wildlife, Wild Places, and People Connect

Birds commonly spotted during the Wings Over Water Festival on the Outer Banks. Birds commonly spotted during the Wings Over Water Festival on the Outer Banks. Birds commonly spotted during the Wings Over Water Festival on the Outer Banks.

Brian Tress | Outer Banks Voice

Each October, as birds funnel down the Atlantic Flyway and winds turn crisp across the Outer Banks, hundreds of naturalists, photographers, and birders converge for Wings Over Water (WOW), a wildlife festival now in its 28th year.

The 2025 festival, held from Oct. 14-19, carried on the tradition despite limited access to some federal lands during the ongoing government shutdown. What began in 1997 as a small collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wi

See Full Page