Important Bird Areas

• Corps of Engineers Important Bird Areas
  PowerPoint Presentation

  What are Important Bird Areas (IBA)? An IBA is a place that provides essential habitat for one or more bird species, whether in breeding season, winter, or during migration. The IBA program identifies and conserves critical sites for bird conservation in North America.

  • State IBA’s (National Audubon Society)
  • Global IBA’s (American Bird Conservancy)

  Most of the approximately 450 man-made lakes and the 24,000 miles of inland navigation under the management jurisdiction of the Corps are located in close proximity to major metropolitan statistical areas and are often the last largely natural tracts of land and water in such areas. The nearly 12 million acres of land and water at these projects with a total shoreline length that exceeds the coastline of the continental United States, consists of significant quantities of riparian habitat distributed along major riverine systems that often coincide with major bird migration routes. These factors combine to make the Corps of Engineers a critical player in managing the continent's bird species.

  Is my Project Suitable for becoming an IBA? (Criteria to become an IBA)