IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS

DELAWARE'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Delaware Audubon's Important Bird Areas Program is developing an inventory of the critical sites in our state that support significant abundance and diversity of birds. To date, applications for three sites have been submitted and declared Important Bird Areas. Those sites are: White Clay Creek State Park and Preserve, Pea Patch Island (the largest mixed heronry on the East coast), and the Delaware Coastal Zone.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Delaware Coastal Zone
State: Delaware
Counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties
Nearest Community: Wilmington, Dover, and Lewes

Site Description: The Coastal Zone, including the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and the inland bays, contains approximately 270,000 acres of land. Excluding open water within this area, approximately 232,000 acres are wetlands and uplands.

Ornithological Summary: Breeding Distribution Maps indicate that the Delaware Coastal Zone contains breeding grounds for several WatchListed and endangered/threatened birds. This includes the following species: Piping Plover; American Black Duck; Black Rail; Least Tern; Chuck-will's-widow; Wood Thrush; Prairie, Prothonotary, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers; Salt-marsh, Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows; and Brown-headed Nuthatch.

The Delaware Coastal Zone provides significant habitat for birds not only during the breeding season but also during spring and fall migration. During their spring migration from South America to the Arctic, tens of thousands of the WatchListed Red Knot, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, Dunlin, and Short-billed Dowitchers stop in Delaware to consume huge quantities of eggs laid by horseshoe crabs.

Conservation Issues: Given the dependence of a large number of bird species and individuals on the Delaware Coastal Zone much effort has been expended to identify and mitigate potential threats to the area. Specifically the follow issues have been classified.

C (Critical, >50% of the resource): Currently none identified
M (Major, 10%-50%): Housing development and Excessive harvesting of horseshoe crab
L (Local, <10%): Excessive disturbance of birds, Raw Sewage, Over extraction of water, Pesticides, and Commercial Development
P (Potential): Oil pollution - oil spills, Toxic Pollution, Hurricane, Global warming, Sea-level rise

FLORIDA’S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Corkscrew Swamp Watershed
State: Florida
Counties: Collier and Lee Counties
Nearest Community: Immokalee

Site Description: The Corkscrew Swamp Watershed Important Bird Area is composed largely of pine flatwoods, cypress swamp, and sawgrass marsh. These primary natural habitats are interspersed with temperate hammocks, agricultural fields, freshwater marshes, lakes/ponds, and some disturbed areas.

Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary within the watershed, contains the largest virgin bald cypress swamp remaining in North America, with some trees over 600 years old. The Sanctuary provides a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the habitats of the watershed through its 2.25-mile boardwalk.

Ornithological Summary: Corkscrew Swamp IBA often contains the nation's largest Wood Stork rookery, although nesting success, which is dependent on local water levels, is extremely variable. This colony has been monitored annually since 1958. The Sanctuary and the CREW Wildlife and Environmental Area both contain Swallow-tailed Kites roosts, with over 400 birds combined (26%). Corkscrew Swamp IBA is one the most avian diverse places in the state with 218 native species.

Conservation Issues: Thanks to the efforts of the staff and volunteers at Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary many of the environmental and wildlife threats are adverted or minimized. The Corkscrew Watershed however has experienced severe modification over the years. Recent efforts focused on restoration of the Everglades, back to its natural waterflow, will help mitigate some of the human disturbance the area has received over the years.

If acquisition efforts of the CARL project are successful, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and adjacent lands will be linked directly with conservation areas to the south, such as Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Big Cypress National Preserve, and Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. This would provide for additional habitat protection for the birds, as well as other rare and endangered wildlife.

GEORGIA'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Georgia's Important Bird Areas Program, coordinated through the Atlanta Audubon Society, has designated 29 IBAs, six through formal ceremonies, and is considering 70 more sites as candidate IBAs. The program is structured around an IBA coordinator who works with a technical committee to review candidate sites. The IBA Technical Committee includes 24 expert birders, ecologists, biologists, and members from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, all Georgia Audubon chapters, and various other conservation groups (The Nature Conservancy, etc.).

SAMPLE IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Altamaha River Delta
State: Georgia
County(ies): McIntosh and Glynn Counties
Nearest Community: Darien

Site Description: The Altamaha River Delta found at the mouth of Georgia's largest river, includes sand spit and barrier islands to the north and south (Blackbeard, Sapelo, Wolf, Egg, Little Egg, and Little St. Simons Islands). Prominent features include extensive barrier beaches, dunes, maritime forest, and salt marshes.

Ornithological Summary: These islands provide exceptional sites for breeding/wintering waterbirds and the surrounding waters and wetlands provide a readily available food source. In addition the islands and their associated habitats serve as resting stops for migrating shorebirds, waterbirds, and landbirds. These habitats often contain high concentrations of Partners-in-Flight target species such as Painted Bunting, and Georgia priority species such as Royal Tern (nesting: 18,000), Brown Pelican (nesting: 5,000), Gull-billed Tern (nesting: 80), Sandwich Tern (nesting: 600), American Oystercatcher (mig./winter: 250), Red Knot (mig. 5000), Dunlin (mig. 1500), Piping Plover (mig./winter: 65), Wood Stork (nesting: 30), and Black Skimmer (nesting: 400).

Conservation Issues: As with many aquatic environments this site and the wildlife it supports faces a number of threats: pollution from farm pesticides and industrial wastes along Altamaha River, disturbances from human recreational activities, and hydrologic changes from water withdrawal. As an example of many on-going projects designed to protect this fragile environment, the state recently passed legislation to limit the recreational activities on the islands used for nesting (e.g., Little Egg Is. Bar), including the restriction of dogs on the beaches.

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