"Important Bird Areas" Unveiled

On October 6, the National Audubon Society named 48 sites within Illinois as Important Bird Areas, or IBAs. Of these 48 IBAs, 11 lie within the Chicago Wilderness region, hosting more than 20 different bird species of conservation concern.

The announcement adds Illinois to a list of 29 other states with IBAs. This national effort is a part of an international program led by BirdLife International to preserve important habitats for birds throughout the world. The broad scope of this cooperative program seeks to address the needs of birds all along their migratory routes, including migration stopovers, breeding sites, and wintering lands.

This round of designations focused on identifying sites supporting congregations of birds that breed in the state, as well as water-based migrants. The Chicago-region sites range from wetlands at Rollins Savanna near Grayslake to open nesting grounds for grassland birds at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie near Joliet. For more information on the 48 new Illinois sites, visit habitatproject.org. Audubon's Judy Pollock stated, "The IBA program uses national standards to identify the places where we can make the biggest difference for birds. Next steps are to complete the list of sites, and form active IBA stewardship groups."

Audubon is seeking nominations for additional sites by February 15, 2005.

— Lucy Elam