PAs Important Bird Area Program and the Conservation of Our Bird Life

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PAs Important Bird Area Program and the
Conservation of Our Bird Life
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Audubon PAs Important Bird Area Program
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History/Scope of IBA Program

• Started by BirdLife International in Europe in
  1980s
• Launched in U.S. in 1995 by Audubon in PA and NY
• Now in 156 countries

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Audubon has been protecting birds since 1905
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PA IBA Criteria

• Exceptional concentration or diversity
• Significant population of endangered or
  threatened species
• Significant population of PA Species of Special
  Concern
• Representative, rare, threatened, or unique
  habitats
• Long-term research or monitoring ongoing

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IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS

• Currently 78 IBA sites identified (selected by
  OTC)

• IBA land area exceeds 1 million acres (gt 3 of
  state)

• GIS map and conservation plan developed for each
  site

• Ongoing nomination process to add new sites

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IBA Land Ownership
51 Public
32 Public/Private
17 Private
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Smallest IBA 1 Acre
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Blue Mountain Kittatinny Ridge

• PAs Largest IBA
• 185 Miles Long
• 300 Square Miles

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The Kittatinny Ridge is used annually for
migration by more than 150 different species of
hawks, eagles, vultures, and songbirds
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Development on the Kittatinny Ridge
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Large Landscape IBAs
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Magnolia Warbler
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American Bittern
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Lower Susquehanna River Gorge
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Middle Creek Wildlife
Management Area
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Conejohela Flats
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Lesser Yellowlegs
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Golden Eagle
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Long-eared Owl
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Powdermill Nature Reserve Banding Project
(1961 present)
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Eastern Bluebird
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Cerulean Warbler Threatened Species?
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IBA Education
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Volunteer Training Monitoring

• 253 individuals trained
• 18 IBAs currently being monitored annually for
  breeding forest birds
• 680 monitoring points total

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• Pennsylvania IBA Partnerships
• PA Game Commission
• PA DCNR Bureau of Forestry
• PA DCNR Bureau of Parks
• PA Fish and Boat Commission
• Land Conservancies
• Audubon Chapters Bird Clubs
• U.S. Fish Wildlife Service

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Passenger Pigeons once numbered in the hundreds
of millions in North America, but became extinct
in the early 20th century.
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Thank You!
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• LOWA Monitoring -- Timing/conditions
• 10 April 31 May
• Sunrise 10 AM
• Winds lt 10 mph
• No precipitation
• Avoid extreme cold

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CONTACT INFORMATION
Steve Hoffman Audubon Pennsylvania 100 Wildwood
Way Harrisburg, PA 17110 E-mail
Shoffman_at_audubon.org Phone [phone]
X11 Website http//pa.audubon.org