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Audubon

Historical Highlights: Signature IBAs

Audubon's Important Bird Areas (IBA) program is laying the groundwork for community-based conservation at more than 1,800 sites across the US. Some of these are on private tracts of land, some are at local parks, and some are larger expanses of vital bird habitat. Here are only a few of the IBAs that Audubon is working to protect.

Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida: Partnerships among people, organizations, communities and agencies were key to the establishment of this site as the first National Wildlife Refuge in 1903. Spurred by individuals working to protect this island of waterbirds, advocacy and involvement by the larger community and organizations such as the American Ornithologist’s Union and Audubon soon joined the cause. This support lead to state legislation, and ultimately federal protection. Initially recognized as the last rookery for Brown Pelican on the East coast of Florida, this IBA currently supports significant populations of this species, as well as Reddish Egret, White Ibis, and Wood Stork, among other wading birds.
Sheldon IBA, Nevada: Consisting of more than a half million acres of rugged, high desert habitat, this IBA holds some of the best remaining sagebrush habitat for Greater Sage-grouse. The original lands for the refuge were purchased by Audubon and the Boone and Crockett Club in the late 1920s as a sanctuary for pronghorn and Sage Grouse. Years later in 1936 the lands were donated, extended, and established as Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge.
Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch, Arizona: This sanctuary for native plants and animals encompasses nearly 7000 acres of semi-arid grassland and related ecosystems, which support 22 species of conservation concern. Partially owned by the National Audubon Society and recognized as an Important Bird Area, the sanctuary has remained ungrazed by domestic livestock since 1969 and has been protected within a larger ecosystem under pressure from continued growth of the human population.
Outer Penobscot Bay IBA , Maine: This IBA consists of five islands at the edge of the open Atlantic and supports a diversity and abundance of seabird species, including Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Great Cormorant, Arctic Tern, Laughing Gull, Leach’s Storm-Petrel, and Common Eider. With Audubon’s Seabird Restoration program currently active on three of these islands, this site has been essential for seabird conservation on the coast of Maine. Most notably, Matinicus Rock has had the longest conservation presence of any other island, with Audubon providing stewardship since the 1960's.
Lillian Annette Rowe Sanctuary, Nebraska: Owned and managed by the National Audubon Society since 1974, this IBA along the Platte River supports the world’s largest concentration of staging Sandhill Cranes in March and April, in addition to hundreds of thousands of migrating waterfowl.
Bolivar Flats, Texas: Consisting of a variety of habitats, including salt marsh, mud flats, and beach, this IBA is owned and managed by the Houston Audubon Society. Boliver Flats has also been recognized by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network as an important resting and feeding site for migrating shorebirds throughout the hemisphere. Volunteer activities at the site include beach clean-up, ongoing bird counts, and surveys.
South Fork Kern River Valley, California: This IBA, the site of an annual bird festival, includes Audubon’s Kern River Preserve. The Kern River Valley contains elements of five of the six major bioregions in the state and is one of the largest and best-preserved examples of lowland riparian woodland in California. Species diversity here is outstanding with over 130 species breeding in the valley, including thousands of songbirds migrating through the riparian forest in the spring, and tens of thousands of Turkey Vultures roosting at the site in the fall.
Bartel Grassland, Illinois: This IBA, important for nesting grassland species such as Bobolink, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Henslow’s Sparrow, has been supported by Audubon with active conservation stewardship and monitoring as a part of a restoration partnership which includes landowner Forest Preserve District of Cook County and local chapter Thorn Creek Audubon. Audubon Chicago Region has contracted for restoration work, and volunteers have cleared invasive species, monitored birds, collected and planted native seeds at the site, and held public events. Continuing efforts to restore a hayfield to its original wet-mesic prairie habitat have led to the return of these grassland birds in large numbers.
Kittatinny Ridge, Pennsylvania: Valued by millions of Pennsylvanians and hundreds of communities, this 185 mile-long ridge, which includes Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, is Pennsylvania’s largest IBA and most important migration corridor, with more than 150 species of raptors, vultures, and songbirds using the ridge during fall migration. Encompassing 500 square miles of linear forest, it is an extremely valuable habitat for forest-interior nesters. Annual migration data have been recorded here since the 1930s, making it the most important site in the state for migration data. In partnership with local, regional, state organizations and agencies, Audubon has worked towards focusing public attention on the site and fostering good stewardship through the Blue Ridge-Kittatinny Project.
Bowerman Basin, Washington: An intertidal basin of tide flats and estuarine emergent salt marsh, this site hosts approximately forty-five percent of the migrating shorebirds in Gray’s Harbor, one of four estuaries in North America supporting more than one million shorebirds during migration. Included in this area is Gray’s Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, established and protected as a result of efforts led by local Audubon chapters.
The Important Bird Areas Program identifies, prioritizes, and works to conserve those places that are critical to the survival of bird populations. The program relies on a broad partnership involving organizations, agencies, industry and the public. In particular, the program is dependent upon engaging communities in the adoption of IBAs in their backyards. For more information please visit our IBA program online.