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  SITE PROFILE  
 
 
 
Name: Lake Erie Metropark  

State: US-MI Status: Recognized
Counties: Wayne Priority:
   Criteria:
Site Description:
Municipal park on Lake Erie shoreline, including 3 miles of shoreline on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Detroit River.
Ornithological Summary:
This IBA is a bottleneck for migrating raptors wishing to avoid the open water crossing of Lake Erie during the fall migration. Between 1996 and 2004 the hawkwatch recorded greater than 90,000 Broad-winged Hawks in all but 3 seasons with an annual average of 177,404. Greater than 100,000 Broad-winged Hawks have been observed in a single day, and an astounding 612,000 individuals were counted during the 1999 season. Other migrant raptors with large seasonal high counts include Peregrine Falcon (94), Merlin (83), Red-shouldered Hawk (1200), Northern Goshawk (70), Northern Harrier (1372), Bald Eagle (232), Osprey (282), Cooper's Hawk (896), and Sharp-shinned Hawk (12,080, with an annual average of 6,800 to 9,300 individuals).

The park also supports a wintering group of Long-eared Owls ranging from 0 to 11 individuals.

The nearby waters of the Detroit River are home to huge concentrations of migrating and wintering waterfowl and waterbirds, for which that site is also recognized as an IBA.

 

 

Citation: National Audubon Society 2009. Important Bird Areas in the U.S.
Available at http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba 11/2009

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