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IBAs are categorized by the following STATUS terms:

• POTENTIAL - Potential IBAs may meet IBA criteria. A list of potential sites is one of the first things an IBA Coordinator puts together when beginning the process of identifying sites at the state level.
• NOMINATED - Nominated IBAs are sites for which a nomination package has been completed and are most likely to meet IBA criteria. Nomination forms are completed by the IBA Coordinator, members of the IBA technical committee, volunteers, the land manager(s) or owner(s), or some other interested individual(s).
• IDENTIFIED – Identified IBAs are sites that have been reviewed by a state technical committee and have been determined to meet IBA criteria at the state level. Sites are identified based on the occurrence of birds at a site and therefore their value to birds and bird conservation. Sites are evaluated based on the number of individuals of particular species occurring at the site and whether those numbers meet the defined criteria. Additionally, habitat quality and the stability of that habitat may also be a factor, in conjunction with criteria, for identifying an IBA.
• RECOGNIZED – Recognized IBAs are identified IBAs that have been announced to the public. Recognition of an IBA could occur through a public ceremony, press release, or some other mechanism that makes it widely known that this site is part of a global network of places identified for their outstanding value to bird conservation. In many cases, recognition may mean that a landowner has been notified and has approved of the fact that the property has been identified as an IBA; however, recognition does not require landowner approval.
• PENDING – Pending IBAs are sites that have been nominated and evaluated by a technical committee but are in need of additional information, such as more bird population data, additional habitat, threat, and/or landuse data, before it can be adequately evaluated against IBA criteria.
• REJECTED – Rejected IBAs are sites that were previously listed as potential or nominated, but were ultimately determined through a technical committee review process to not meet IBA criteria. These sites could be nominated again if new information is obtained.
• DELISTED – Delisted IBAs are sites that were previously listed as identified or recognized, but have been removed from one of those lists because of degradation to the site, change in bird populations, or some other reason that becomes clear through new information.
• MERGED - a site that has been added to another IBA and is no longer considered an individual IBA. A merged site was previously listed as an individual Potential, Nominated, Identified or Recognized IBA, but is no longer a single IBA because the boundaries of the site have been included with those of another IBA. Data associated with IBAs that have been merged should now be included in the IBA the site was merged with.