IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS

OHIO'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Audubon Ohio's Important Bird Areas Program officially began in early 2000 with the establishment of the Ohio IBA Technical Committee. This Committee established criteria and a nomination package of which over 400 were sent out. To date, the Committee has accepted information for 87 candidate IBAs with approximately a dozen or more still in process. The Committee, in concert with the Conservation Committee of Audubon Ohio, is formulating monitoring program protocols and, using a conservation matrix to establish priorities for conservation among the sites. Audubon Ohio, along with local chapters and other environmental organizations, is working to protect several Important Bird Areas that face a number of conservation threats.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Magee Marsh / Crane Creek / Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge (Contiguous large sites)
State: Ohio
County: Ottawa County
Nearest Community: Oak Harbor

Site Description: This Important Bird Area forms the most essential wetland complex in the Lake Erie Marsh region. Approximately 7,000 acres are composed of primarily diked marshland, along with representative Lake Erie shoreline, old wooded beach ridges, a small estuary, swamp forest, and upland woodlots.

Ornithological Summary: It is the complex of wetlands that make up this IBA that allow for waterbirds and songbirds to flourish. Major waterfowl species include: Mallard, American Black Duck, American Widgeon, and Canada Goose. Rafts of waterfowl, up to 100,000 individuals, are present offshore in winter. During migration Tundra Swans pass through along with thousands of neotropical migrants. This IBA probably provides the most important migratory staging area in the state for these songbirds. Also abundant during the migratory seasons are birds of prey.

Conservation Issues: The core of this Important Birds Area is state and federally owned and is generally stable in conservation practices. Surrounding areas are heavily farmed with some development occurring.

PENNSYLVANIA’S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Audubon Pennsylvania’s Important Bird Areas Program was the first to develop a state IBA program in the United States. Based on strict scientific criteria, a group of scientific advisors (known as the Ornithological Technical Committee) selected 73 Important Bird Areas encompassing over one million acres of public and private lands. These sites include migratory staging areas, winter feeding and roost areas, and prime breeding areas for songbirds, wading birds and other species. They also include critical habitats, such as spruce-fir bogs, tidal saltmarsh, bottomland hardwood swamps, and open grasslands. Additional IBA sites in Pennsylvania will be selected by the technical committee on an ongoing basis.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Kittatinny Ridge Important Bird Area
State: Pennsylvania
Counties: 11 counties in eastern and south-central PA – 280 square miles of forested ridge.
Nearest Communities: This IBA extends from just south of Stroudsburg, PA (Northampton/Monroe counties), all the way to west of Chambersburg, PA (Franklin County).

Site Description (habitats): The Kittatinny Ridge Important Bird Area, also known as Blue Mountain, is the premier raptor migration corridor in the northeastern US, and one of the leading migration sites in the world. The ridge is 180 miles long, and varies in elevation from 1500-1800 feet above sea level. This ridgeline is oriented in a northeast-to-southwest direction, and is covered with second-growth deciduous forest. The valleys on either side are characterized by mixed farmland and small, rural communities. World renowned Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and a dozen or so other migration lookouts are situated atop this ridge, and numerous rock outcrops along its length provide excellent views of the migrants. Most of the land is in private ownership, but approximately 15% is publicly owned (State Game Lands). Audubon Pennsylvania recently acquired a 20-acre parcel, the Waggoner’s Gap Hawk Watch. Audubon plans to continue and expand activities at the site relating to scientific monitoring of raptor populations, public education programs, and outdoor recreation opportunities.

Ornithological Summary: The Kittatinny Ridge funnels tens of thousands of raptors of 16 species during autumn, and lesser numbers in the spring. In addition, tremendous numbers of passerine species and other birds (hummingbirds, loons, geese, etc.) use the ridge as a migratory corridor during both seasons. The ridge is also a key breeding site for many interior forest birds, including WatchListed Wood Thrush, Black-throated Green Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Red-eyed Vireo, Hooded Warbler, WatchListed Cerulean Warbler, WatchListed Black-throated Blue Warbler, WatchListed Worm-eating Warbler, Ovenbird, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Annual counts of migratory raptors at Hawk Mountain (which began in 1934), Bake Oven Knob (started in the 1960’s), Waggoner’s Gap (consistent data have been gathered since the early 1980’s), and other locales have helped assess long-term trends in raptor populations throughout eastern North America. This database assisted in documenting both declines in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and subsequent rebounds for several raptor species following the 1972 nationwide ban on the use of DDT. In addition to the raptors, over 140 species of birds are recorded regularly during the fall migration at Hawk Mountain.

Conservation Issues: Residential development (“suburban sprawl”) along the ridge is the primary threat. This type of development is already underway in many areas where paved roadways cross the ridge. This issue is of greatest concern near urban centers, including Stroudsburg, Harrisburg, and Carlisle. Overbrowsing by white-tailed deer is also a serious threat to many forest breeding birds along the Kittatinny Ridge, especially species that depend on a healthy understory layer and mid-story canopy. Finally, the construction of additional communication towers along the crest of the ridge poses a significant increased risk to migrating birds.

Audubon Pennsylvania is currently initiating a large conservation planning effort along the entire length of the Kittatinny. In this process Audubon will engage local governments, community groups, landowners, sportsmen, outdoor enthusiasts, and birdwatchers to assess the ridge’s values, and to spark interest in conserving this unique ecosystem.

SOUTH CAROLINA'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Audubon South Carolina's Important Bird Areas Program has identified seventeen sites as Important Bird Areas. Twenty-one additional sites are in the nomination process. The seventeen identified IBAs comprise 651,000 acres and represent most of South Carolina's major habitat types, from the southern Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic coast. Fourteen of these Important Bird Areas are open to, and encourage, public visitation. The IBA program is preparing a booklet describing the IBA sites, and pages will be added as additional areas are identified. Audubon South Carolina's Important Bird Areas Program is motivated by an IBA coordinator and a working technical committee of eight.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Congaree Swamp National Monument
State: South Carolina
County: Richland County
Nearest Community: Columbia

Site Description: Congaree Swamp National Monument, designated as a unit of the National Park System in 1976, is located approximately 20 miles southeast of Columbia, in central South Carolina-the geographic center is 80º 47' W, and 33º 47' N. This IBA comprises 12,000 acres of old-growth riverbottom hardwood forest and an additional 10,000 forested acres which together contain nearly 90 tree species, with twenty-five trees holding state records for size, and three trees with national records. Much of the area is seasonally, inundated by the Congaree River and features several oxbow lakes and numerous creeks distributed throughout the floodplain.

Ornithological Summary: The Congaree Important Bird Area has the largest remaining old-growth bottomland forest in the country. In this representative habitat, research has documented one of the densest breeding populations of Northern Parulas and more than half of the breeding species at Congaree are neotropical migrants. The 1995 bird checklist included 173 species. A winter bird census documented over 2,000 birds per 250 acres, one of the highest wintering bird densities reported in the country. One group of endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers occupies an upland pine bluff adjacent to the floodplain.

Conservation Issues: Water impoundment projects, upstream development activities, and potential sources of pollution in upstream watersheds pose the most serious threats to the health of the Congaree ecosystem. Urban and agricultural development in the vast watershed (over 8,000 square miles) brings with it a potential for surface water contamination within this Important Bird Area. Non-indigenous plants and naturally occurring pests and disease also pose threats.

TEXAS'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Sabal Palm Audubon Center & Sanctuary
State: Texas
County: Cameron County
Nearest Community: Brownsville

Site Description: Cradled in a bend of the Rio Grande along the U.S./Mexico border, the Sabal Palm Audubon Center and Sanctuary harbors one of the most beautiful and critical ecosystems of South Texas and Northern Mexico. Sabal Palms once grew profusely along the edge of the Rio Grande in small stands or groves extending about 80 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico. Today, only a small portion of that forest remains, protected on 527 acres of this Audubon sanctuary.

Ornithological Summary: The Sabal Palm Sanctuary Important Bird Area is home to the Yellow-Green Vireo, Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Plain Chachalaca, Olive Sparrow, WatchListed Long-billed Thrasher, White-tipped Dove, Couch's Kingbird, and Golden-fronted Woodpecker. In addition the WatchListed Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Olive Sparrow, and Least Grebe that occur here are at the northernmost limit of their Mexican range. While the habitat at Sabal Palm Sanctuary provides critical breeding habitat for many species it also serves as a migratory stopover site, providing many warblers with a place to stop and rest. Some of the migrants are also known to overwinter here.

Conservation Issues: While the area outside of the Sanctuary faces numerous threats, habitat within this IBA is relatively secure thanks to the efforts of the staff and volunteers making Sabal Palm Sanctuary a destination for birders worldwide.

TENNESSEE'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
Tennessee’s Important Bird Areas Program, initiated in 1997, has recently been resurrected through the support of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Current plans of the program include restructuring the composition of the Important Bird Areas technical committee, a re-evaluation of the selection criteria, and requesting new site nominations from professional ornithologists, natural resource professionals, and bird clubs. The Tennessee Ornithological Society and two Audubon Chapters will be cooperators on the project.

FEATURED IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Southern Cumberland Mountains
State: Tennessee
County(ies): Morgan, Anderson, Scott, and Campbell Counties
Nearest Community: Wartburg, LaFollette, Caryville, Jacksboro, Huntsville, and Oak Ridge.

Site Description: The Southern Cumberland Mountains Important Bird Area lies in a heavily forested region encompassing over 57,062 ha (141,000 acres) in four Tennessee counties. The landscape is nearly 93% forested and includes two significant publicly owned tracts, Frozen Head State Natural Area and Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area. The mountains here are some of the highest in Tennessee west of the Great Smoky Mountains, with more than 14 mountain peaks eclipsing 3000 feet. Within the Southern Cumberland Mountains, mixed mesophytic forest covers moist slopes. Dominant trees include tulip-poplar, basswood, sugar maple, buckeye, northern red and white, and white ash; beech and hemlock are common at low elevations. The watersheds of two medium-sized rivers transect this Important Bird Area providing additional riparian habitats for birds. The area also contains one of the densest beaver populations in eastern Tennessee, providing local concentrations of forested wetland habitats.

Ornithological Summary: The bird-life of the Southern Cumberland Mountains is particularly rich. The most common species detected on point count routes conducted from 1996 – 2000 included Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Hooded Warbler, Ovenbird, and Wood Thrush (WatchListed), species expected to be associated with such a heavily forested landscape

The Southern Cumberland Mountains IBA includes significant populations of several species of high conservation concern. One of the densest populations of the WatchListed Cerulean Warbler in the species’ range nests within this IBA. Point count routes in mid-aged to mature hardwood forests recorded the species on over 50% of points during sampling from 1995-1997. Additionally, during the Cerulean Warbler Atlas Project sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology from 1997-2000, more Cerulean Warblers were reported from the Royal Blue WMA than at any of the other 73 sites surveyed.

The Southern Cumberland Mountains also harbor one of the most important concentrations of WatchListed Golden-winged Warblers in the southeastern United States. In 2001, preliminary surveys in Anderson, Campbell and Scott Counties for the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project yielded 69 Golden-winged Warbler detections. Golden-winged Warblers occupy a variety of early successional habitats within the mountains but are primarily associated with abandoned and reclaimed strip mines.

The avifauna of the Southern Cumberland Mountains also includes disjunct nesting populations of species typically associated with higher elevation forests of the Southern Blue Ridge. This species suite includes WatchListed Black-throated Blue Warbler , Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Veery.

Conservation Issues: Several serious threats face the Southern Cumberland Mountains Important Bird Area. Currently, the area is a fairly intact, forested landscape made-up of large public lands and forest industry land holdings. The presence of the forest and coal industries in the area has helped maintain the large tract sizes in single ownership. However, Interstate 75 cuts through the center of the IBA and the sprawling city of Knoxville, Tennessee is less than a 45-minute drive south. Development pressure is beginning to appear within some portions of the area and the sectioning and sale of forest industry lands would bring a great deal more.

A chip mill built in the mid-1990’s also exists in the center of the IBA. The impacts of timber harvesting for this chip mill, on local bird populations, is unknown. Another serious threat to species requiring mature forests is the potential increase of coal mining in the region. Coal mining techniques used in the region include deep, contour, and mountaintop mining. Mountaintop-mining is known to cause significant habitat modification and destruction, to both the terrestrial and aquatic habitats, by removing the tops of mountains and filling in streams. The use of this techniques has, to date, been limited in the area.

Currently, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is working with a coalition of partners in an attempt to purchase an additional 80,000 acres within the IBA boundary. This will create a contiguous protected area of over 141,000 acres in public ownership within the Southern Cumberland Mountains Important Bird Area.

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