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Bird Conservation
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Important Bird Areas
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INDIANA'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM
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The Indiana Important Bird Areas Program was initiated in 1998 through the commitment and comprehensive efforts of a volunteer coordinator and the establishment of the Indiana IBA technical committee. The committee is composed of the state's leading ornithologists, ecologists, and conservationists who represent various natural heritage, wildlife management and conservation, and academic and research institutions throughout Indiana. In January of 2005, Audubon furthered its dedication to bird conservation in the state by hiring its first full-time IBA coordinator for Indiana.The Indiana IBA Program, through the nomination and review process involving the Indiana IBA Technical Committee, is now working to create an inventory of the key locations within the state that contain reservoirs of bird abundance and diversity, identifying such land as Important Bird Areas. In September of 2005, the first state IBAs were identified - 13 in all. The IBA technical committee reconvened during April 2006 and completed evaluations for the second-round of nominations, which include an additional 13 sites, and, during May 2007, an additional 14 sites were identified. With these combined 40 Important Bird Areas, nearly 1,000,000 acres of habitat in the state have been identified as crucial for the conservation of bird populations. The Indiana IBA technical committee hopes to reconvene during the spring of 2008 to evaluate an additional 10 nominations.Because the Indiana IBA Program is a voluntary initiative, its ultimate success will be dependent on public awareness and volunteer engagement. One of the primary strengths of the IBA program is increased advocacy and awareness for the protection of birds and their habitat through citizen science, citizen stewardship, and public engagement. As the initiative develops and more sites are identified and recognized around the state as Important Bird Areas, Hoosier bird-watchers will have available many opportunities to contribute to this conservation effort. Such future opportunities include submitting additional site nominations; organizing and conducting IBA bird surveys and field trips; and/or adopting IBAs. IBA adoption may include taking responsibility for monitoring birds at the site, assessing threats, evaluating habitat condition, getting involved in habitat restoration projects; assisting with the development of conservation plans or easements; developing and conducting IBA presentations for potential partners, or otherwise advocating on behalf of the IBA and the birds that are found there. The Marian College EcoLab restoration in Indianapolis has been selected by Audubon as an IBA test-site to effectively model such outreach and stewardship initiatives. A description of the site and a calendar of activities can be found at www.marian.edu/biology/ecolab/index.shtml.
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Sugar Creek as seen from Shades State Park (James Cole photo)
| Name: |
Sugar Creek Valley |
| State: |
US-IN |
| Counties: |
Fountain, Montgomery, Parke
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| Site Status: |
Recognized |
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Pearl Ravine in Shades State Park (James Cole photo)
The Sugar Creek Valley IBA is an approximately 15 mile-long riparian corridor located in parts of Montgomery, Fountain, and Parke counties. The major water feature of this IBA is its namesake; however, portions of several Sugar Creek tributaries are also included, especially Indian Creek and Sugar Mill Creek. The elongated boundary for the IBA begins with Davis Bridge in Montgomery County (about 2 miles up-stream from Pine Hills Nature Preserve) and terminates at West Union Bridge in Parke County (approximately a mile from where Sugar Creek flows into the Wabash River). The Sugar Creek Valley contains one of the largest and most contiguous forested lands in the "Central Till Plain" natural region; its impressive cliffs and ravines also contain relic stands of hemlocks and pines. For these reasons, the area maintains relatively large nesting populations of neotropical passerines, such as the Wood Thrush and Worm-eating Warbler (both of which are WatchList species), when compared to the remaining northern half of the state as well as birds, like Black-throated Green and Magnolia Warblers, that are more typical of boreal forests.
The Sugar Creek corridor is the one of largest and most contiguous riparian habitats within the "Central Till Plain" natural region; its population and diversity of neotropical passerine species is perhaps only rivaled by the large forested areas of the "Shawnee Hills" natural region and isolated bottomland habitats of the riparian valleys of southwestern Indiana. The greatest portion of the entrenched Sugar Creek valley is composed of floodplain forest and upland deciduous forest habitats. These areas support critical populations of several vulnerable species of breeding birds - the Sugar Creek corridor most likely contains the largest populations of Wood Thrush, Cerulean Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, and Kentucky Warbler comparatively to any other area in the northern half of the state; all of these are WatchList species. In addition, relic stands of eastern hemlock, white pine, and Canada yew can be found in various spots throughout the valley (including Shades State Park and Pine Hills Nature Preserve). These smaller habitats have provided breeding evidence for several typical northern or boreal birds over the past few years - Magnolia Warbler (first state record), Black-throated Green Warbler, and Blackburnian Warbler have all been either suspected or confirmed as breeding birds within Shades State Park. Sugar Creek also supports large populations of transient birds during northbound and southbound migrations as well as congregations of species of management concern. Vireos, thrushes, warblers, and tanagers benefit from the contiguous forested habitat of the valley during migratory stop-overs, for instance. In addition, Sugar Creek maintains a large roost of Bald Eagles during the winter near the western boundary of this proposed IBA (near the West Union covered bridge); over the past several years, it's been estimated that over 75 eagles are part of this roost.
Given the scenic beauty created by the striking erosional features and the unique vegetation of the area, a great amount of public interest and pressure for increased private residential construction has been focused on the Sugar Creek Valley for the past several years. Many undeveloped and undisturbed portions of the corridor are currently for sale, and, consequently, the threat of habitat destruction and fragmentation for many nesting species is reaching a critical point. In addition, several of these pristine areas could be sold for the development of active recreational facilities or for extractive industries such as timber harvest.
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