A new book includes information about IBAs - Important Bird Areas of Ohio

                        
This past week I’ve been reading a book by John Ritzenthaler, Important Bird Areas of Ohio. It was published in 2008 by Audubon Ohio. The idea for IBAs began in the 1980s and was developed by an organization called BirdLife International. They worked mainly in Europe and later published the first book, called Important Bird Areas in Europe. Later the idea was enlarged and now more than 180 countries have IBAs, including activity on every continent. The only requirement for producing an IBA program is that it must include at least one of three broad qualities: 1. The area has significant numbers of one or more globally threatened species. 2. The area includes one or more sites that hold together a restricted-range species. 3. The area has exceptionally large numbers of migratory species. Here in Ohio the process was initiated in 1999. I attended one of the early meetings, held in Delaware. Organizations and birders were encouraged to nominate possible locations for inclusion in the Ohio IBA program. A total of 160 locations were nominated, after which the sites were researched and documented, resulting in more than 100 being included. Here in Ohio the IBA technical committee developed additional guidelines for inclusion, but they basically follow the three listed above. The size of an IBA varies greatly from less than 100 acres to thousands of acres. There are a number of really helpful maps in this little book. I like the six color maps of Ohio which include information about geology, glacial mapping, elevation, physiographic regions, natural vegetation, and bird conservation areas. On page 16 is a helpful map which shows the location and size of all the Ohio IBAs. They are distributed fairly evenly around the state, although the largest concentration is in north-central and northeast Ohio. The biggest IBAs are the Wayne National Forest in the Ironton area of extreme southern Ohio, and the Lake Erie Western Basin which includes a large area east and south of Toledo. Here in our home area there are a number of IBAs. As you would expect, the Killbuck Marsh and Funk Bottoms are included, plus Mohican State Park and Forest, and Pleasant Hill Lake. An interesting IBA is Mansfield Lahm Airport. This small spot is included since it has been one of the few places where Upland Sandpipers still nest. The Wilderness Center, near Wilmot is also included. The last IBA close to our area is the Berlin Lakes. This series of lakes in northeast Stark County has had some amazing shorebird concentrations during migration. South of us there are few IBAs until you cross Interstate 70 and come to The Wilds, famous for wintering raptors, including a few Golden Eagles, and a few years ago, at least one Prairie Falcon. The book is illustrated with wonderful photos, many by Robert Royce and Brian Zwiebel, two of the best bird photographers in Ohio. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Ohio birds and natural areas. Meanwhile, on the local birding scene, things seem to have slowed a bit as we are in the lull between the peak waterfowl migration and the big songbird and Broad-winged Hawk migration that will be picking up in the next several weeks. A group of local hawk-watchers did make a trip to Conneaut, counting more than 1,100 Turkey Vultures, 125 Red-tailed Hawks and 200 Sharp-shinned Hawks. In the Farmerstown area, birders are watching a Great Horned Owl nest where two young owls can be seen looking out over the big nest. Good birding!


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