IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS

IDAHO’S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Idaho launched its Important Bird Areas program in 1996 as a partnership between Idaho Partners in Flight and the Idaho Audubon Council. An IBA Technical Committee was formed to encourage nominations and review materials for candidate Important Bird Areas. From 1997 through 1999, the committee reviewed nominations and voted to accept, reject, or table each nomination. To date, 53 sites have been identified as Important Bird Areas in Idaho. The Idaho IBA program is beginning phase two of the IBA process. Proponents are being sought to work towards conservation and management of IBAs. These individuals and organizations will be champions for bird conservation at particular sites and will work cooperatively with each site’s land manager or landowner. As part of the phase two process, monitoring has been initiated at some sites - conducted either by biologists responsible for the management of the area, or by volunteers. These efforts, intend to collect basic information about the IBAs, at a minimum create an inventory of bird species present at each site, which will lead to further investigations.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: American Falls Reservoir
State: Idaho
Counties: Power and Bingham Counties
Nearest Communities: American Falls, Ft. Hall, Aberdeen, and Springfield, Idaho

Site Description: The American Falls Reservoir Important Bird Area is an irrigation reservoir that provides shallow feeding areas for waterfowl and mudflats for migrating shorebirds. This site also contains some excellent bottomland cottonwood forests, mostly on Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The reservation includes a large area of springs and willow habitat. Located in a valley bottom, this area is the remnant of a large natural marsh called Dingle Swamp. In the early 1900s, the Bear River was diverted through the area to store irrigation water and subsequently a number of dikes were established, separating the marsh into management units. The marsh is a mix of hardstem bulrush, cattail and open water habitats. Wet meadows outline the marsh and contain sedges, rushes, beardless wildrye, and saltgrass. Drier areas found at the site contain sagebrush and greasewood with minor amounts of willow.

Ornithological Summary: The avifauna in the American Falls Reservoir area is among the most diverse in Idaho (over 200 species recorded). In addition to supporting thousands of ducks, geese, and shorebirds, this area is also a breeding and wintering area for WatchListed Trumpeter Swans, a wintering area for Bald Eagles, and a breeding area for eight species of colonial waterbirds. In addition, it is a minor fall staging area for Sandhill Cranes (200-400 cranes) and has been designated a Shorebird Reserve of Regional Importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. This area attracts many rare species in Idaho.

Conservation Issues: Major conservation issues at this site include recreational disturbance, contamination from pesticides, and nutrient enrichment due to agricultural runoff. Runoff problems have been compounded by grazing at the site, which potentially reduces the understory vegetation within willow and cottonwood stands and facilitates the introduction of nutrients through feces. Direct impacts to waterfowl include several outbreaks of Botulism. Most of the shoreline at the reservoir is in federal or tribal ownership. A management plan has been written and an irrigation water operation plan by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is in progress. One success for the area was the designation of Springfield Bottoms as part of the Shorebird Reserve Network. This designation should result in a heightened awareness of the importance of the site.

ILLINOIS’ IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
In the fall of 2000 the Chicago Wilderness office of Audubon held an organizational meeting to coordinate the development of Audubon's Illinois IBA program. Major stakeholders in the state are represented, including Illinois Audubon, the Audubon Council of Illinois, Illinois Ornithological Society, The Nature Conservancy, American Bird Conservancy, Chicago Wilderness, Bird Conservation Network, Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and ornithologists from the University of Illinois. The goals of the Illinois program are to identify the state's most important bird areas and the threats to them, and to form conservation teams that can implement needed actions.

A technical committee comprised of state-wide ornithological expertise has been formed, and subsequently criteria and a nomination form were developed. The first nomination period closed in September 2003, and entries are under review. A Chicago Wilderness area advisory team has met, and a state level advisory team is in formation. The newly identified IBAs are expected to be announced in spring of 2004.

CANDIDATE* IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Prairie Parklands
State: Illinois
Counties: Will and Grundy Counties
Nearest Community: Joliet

Site Description: This area, within the area of the state known as the Prairie Parklands region, occurs near the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee Rivers with the Illinois River. It is composed primarily of four large tracts: the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Goose Lake Prairie State Park, Des Plaines State Conservation Area, and the Joliet Training Area. Together they make up the most outstanding grassland ecosystem in the state. The area contains some shrubland and woodland habitat, but the dominant vegetation is grassland, including a number of types of native prairie (in various stages of restoration), and palustrine emergent wetlands.

Ornithological Summary: This area has the State’s largest populations of a number of grassland species, including Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper Sparrow, and WatchListed Bobolink. Other significant species found here include King Rail and WatchListed Henslow’s Sparrow, as well as Pied-billed Grebe, Least Bittern, American Bittern, Common Moorhen, Northern Harrier, WatchListed Short-eared Owl, WatchListed Red-headed Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Marsh Wren, Sedge Wren, Loggerhead Shrike, and Orchard Oriole.

Conservation Issues: As with most prairie habitat in Illinois, the Prairie Parklands has suffered severe habitat loss and degradation in the last 100 years as a result of conversion to agriculture, fire suppression, the draining of wetlands, and the encroachment of invasive plant species. However, in comparison to the surrounding landscape that is largely dominated by row crops, this area has been less heavily impacted and has better potential for restoration. Goose Lake Prairie is probably the largest native prairie remnant east of the Mississippi, and due to military activities that limited disturbance, the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant provided some protection for native birds. In the 1990s the Ammunition Plant was dedicated as the nation’s first National Tallgrass Prairie – the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The area is now undergoing one of the largest grassland restorations ever undertaken.

* Candidate sites are being considered for designation as Important Bird Areas by the respective State Technical Committee.

IOWA’S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Audubon Iowa is forging ahead with plans to officially launch the Iowa Important Bird Areas Program on 1st of January 2002. Developmental work for the IBA Program has been ongoing over the past two years. A 16-member IBA Technical Committee was formed in 2000 and includes many of the state’s bird conservation leaders from the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union, the Wildlife Diversity Program of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and private bird conservation consultants. During 2001 the Iowa IBA Technical Committee finalized criteria for the state’s IBA sites, and the State Director submitted three small grants to fund the program, which were each approved. Statewide efforts over the past three years to begin Audubon initiatives, to build new partnerships with public and private entities, and to develop the Audubon Iowa State Office, have generated significant interest in the Important Bird Areas Program.

CANDIDATE* IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Upper Mississippi River Ecosystem
State: Iowa (IBA is also part Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota)
Counties: many counties in the above listed states
Nearest Community: Quad Cities area

Site Description: The Upper Mississippi River Ecosystem, which borders Iowa on the east, is recognized as having strong potential to become an officially designated Iowa Important Bird Area. This extensive, linear habitat includes the Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge that begins at the Chippewa River in Wisconsin and ends at Davenport, Iowa. Throughout this site navigation locks and dams create a series of pools along the length of the refuge producing a mosaic of open water, extensive marshes and floodplain forests. This refuge contains one of the largest hardwood forests in the Upper Midwest, consisting of silver maple, green ash, elm, cottonwood, and swamp white oak. The marsh habitats are dominated by river bulrush, arrowhead, cattails, American lotus, water lily, and wild celery. The river is an important navigation system and the economic value of the recreation industry is estimated to exceed $4 billion annually. The refuge alone receives over 3 million visitors annually.

Ornithological Summary: Counts by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff indicate that 136,200 Canvasbacks (22% of the world’s population), 16,900 Tundra Swans (20% of the eastern population), 96,700 Lesser Scaup and 271,000 other species of waterfowl pass through the refuge each fall. The area is significantly diverse with more than 263 species of birds having been found on the refuge. Of these, 128 species breed and 57 species (44%) overwinter. An additional 58 nearctic migrants are seen on the refuge annually. There are at least 60 pairs of Bald Eagles breeding on the refuge, which is more than 1% of the U.S. population of this species. In winter this number swells to more than 600. The refuge also has 5,700 breeding pairs of Great Blue Herons, and thousands of raptors use the river corridor during fall migration. The forested areas of the refuge provides habitat for large numbers of breeding passerines (up to 25 birds per hectare), characteristic of floodplain forests of this latitude.

Conservation Issues: Non-point source water pollution, in the form of soil erosion and sedimentation, has had a serious negative impact on backwater habitats since lock and dams were constructed on the Upper Mississippi River in the 1930’s. Introduced species such as the zebra mussel and purple loosestrife have become established on the refuge, resulting in reductions in habitat quality and quantity and potential food chain impacts. Increased recreational use and local urban development have the potential to degrade or eliminate habitats further. Federal ownership of most of the flood-prone land in the floodplain has prevented extensive development and habitat loss. Cooperative programs between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, each of the states, and non-governmental organizations have shown strong potential for protecting and restoring habitats that are critical for breeding, wintering and migrating bird species.

* Candidate sites are being considered for designation as Important Bird Areas by the State Technical Committee.

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