IBA Management

habitat recommendations for our most seriously declining birds

IBA DocumentIowa Audubon is pleased to present an exciting new management tool for species of birds supported within Iowa's Important Bird Area (IBA). The .pdf files (See Links below) contain a four-part educational initiative focusing on thirty-seven of Iowa's most seriously declining bird species and improved management of the primary habitats essential to the survival of those species. 

Production was funded by a grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resource's "Resource Enhancement and Protection - Conservation Education Program (REAP-CEP), with matching funds provided by Iowa Audubon. Ric Zarwell, former IBA Coordinator for Iowa Audubon, was the primary developer and author of the text. A great deal of information on the management of Iowa's wetland, woodlands and grasslands for high priority bird species was provided by Avian Ecologist Bruce Ehresman. A special feature not to be missed is vocalizations of the IBA criteria bird species. At the top of each individual species accounts, simply drag your mouse over and click on each bird's common name, and after a few seconds you'll hear the bird's song or call.

Tom Sykes of Appleton, Wisconsin, provided production services for a CD (available to IBA owners/managers) and this .pdf version. By making this information available to everyone, Iowa Audubon hopes to engage, inform and partner with, individuals who can make significant conservation progress in each of these vital habitats. We hope you will find this an educational and useful tool, whether you are the owner or manager of a designated IBA, or if you're just someone who enjoys birds as much as we do. Without your interest and cooperation, proper bird conservation in Iowa might be a more difficult, if not impossible, task.

--Doug Harr, President, Iowa Audubon

Note: Each of these links open a pdf file ranging in size from 1200 to 3100 KB. (If you have a very fast connection, the entire file can be downloaded here. It is 32,237 KB.)

Endangered Species
  1. Bald Eagle  Bald Eagle
  2. Northern Harrier  Northern Harrier
  3. Red-shouldered Hawk  Red-shouldered Hawk
  4. Peregrine Falcon  Peregrine Hawk
  5. King Rail  King Rail
  6. Piping Plover  Piping Plover
  7. Least Tern  Least Tern
  8. Barn Owl  Barn Owl
  9. Short-eared Owl  Short-eared Owl
Threatened Species
  1. Long-eared Owl  Long-eared Owl
  2. Henslow's Sparrow  Henslow's Sparrow
Species of High Conservation Priority
  1. American Bittern  American Bittern
  2. Least Bittern  Least Bittern
  3. Black-crowned Night-Heron  Black-crowned Night-Heron
  4. Broad-winged Hawk  Broad-winged Hawk
  5. Greater Prairie-Chicken  Greater Prairie-Chicken
  6. Common Gallinule  Common Gallinule (formerly Common Moorhen)
  7. American Woodcock  American Woodcock
  8. Forster's Tern  Forster's Tern
  9. Black Tern  Black Tern
  10. Black-billed Cuckoo  Black-billed Cuckoo
  11. Chuck-will's-widow  Chuck-will's-widow
  12. Pileated Woodpecker  Pileated Woodpecker
  13. Loggerhead Shrike  Loggerhead Shrike
  14. White-eyed Vireo  White-eyed Vireo
  15. Bell's Vireo  Bell's Vireo
  16. Bewick's Wren  Bewick's Wren
  17. Veery  Veery
  18. Wood Thrush  Wood Thrush
  19. Cerulean Warbler  Cerulean Warbler
  20. Prothonotary Warbler  Prothonotary Warbler
  21. Worm-eating Warbler  Worm-eating Warbler
  22. Kentucky Warbler  Kentucky Warbler
  23. Hooded Warbler  Hooded Warbler
  24. Yellow-breasted Chat  Yellow-breasted Chat
  25. Grasshopper Sparrow  Grasshopper Sparrow
  26. Bobolink  Bobolink