NEVADA'S IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS PROGRAM

The NV IBA Program is a cooperative venture between the Lahontan Audubon Society and the National Audubon Society. To date, the IBA Program has developed a strong network of support from both government agencies and non-governmental organizations. A Technical Advisory Committee has been assembled from birders, biologists, and conservationists across the state, and the committee held its first meeting in the early fall of 2001 to approve the state criteria and candidate IBA form. The candidate IBA form and criteria have been finalized and are being distributed to solicit nominations, and the first nominations of potential IBAs are beginning to come in to the program.

Photo Courtesy: HawkWatch International.

CANDIDATE* IMPORTANT BIRD AREA
Name: Goshute Mountains
State: Nevada
County(ies): Elko County
Nearest Community: Wendover

Site Description: The Goshute Mountains form a 100-km ridge that runs north-south along the Utah-Nevada border. This Important Bird Area includes the Goshute Wilderness Study Area, approximately 40 km southwest of Wendover, on land administered by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management. The Goshute Mountains are typical of the Great Basin region, in that they are dry, sparsely forested, and rocky. Pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) dominate lower slopes. White fir (Abies concolor), limber pine (Pinus flexilis), and bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata) dominate the overstory along the crest and on north-facing slopes. Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) is a prominent shrub, especially on exposed portions of the ridge.

Ornithological Summary: The Goshute Mountains IBA is particularly important to migrating raptors. These birds, moving south from breeding grounds north of the Great Basin Desert, tend to funnel to the west (and east) and concentrate along the Goshute range. It is here where steep slopes and forest habitat provide favorable migration conditions. Moreover, the Goshute Mountains lie at the southern tip of a large funnel that is fed by the Black Pine, Raft River, Grouse Creek, Pilot, and Toana Mountains. These ranges act as "leading lines" that guide raptors toward the Goshute range from the north and northeast. These conditions are responsible for the Goshute flyway attracting one of the largest known concentrations of migrant raptors in western North America.

To date, Hawk Watch International observers have recorded 18 species of migratory raptors at the site, with counts ranging between 15,000 and 25,000 migrants per season. The year 2000 (Table 1) marked the 21st consecutive season of banding and 18th consecutive standardized count of migrating raptors at this site.

Table 1. Adjusted annual counts and passage rates by species, Fall 2000.

Since 1993 the Goshute field crew has included one or more trained educators dedicated to conducting environmental education programs at the site and facilitating interactions between visitors and the field biologists.

Conservation Issues: The Goshute Mountains IBA has been a raptor migration monitoring site for HawkWatch International for more than 20 years. As such, an extensive database of raptor use of the area has been developed. HWI also bands migrating raptors at this IBA. The area is managed as a wilderness study area and is therefore largely protected from major threats. However, management of the area is not without challenges. The BLM is interested in implementing a prescribed burn in the area to manage fuel loads, although the implications of this management strategy are complicated by HWI's use of the area, as well as use of the area by Northern Goshawks. Domestic sheep have been seen in the wilderness study area regularly over the past few years; presumably these animals have wandered outside of acceptable grazing areas.

To Learn More About Nevada's
Important Bird Areas Program

Visit the Web Site:
Important Bird Areas of Nevada

Contact:
Don McIvor
Director of Bird Conservation
NV Important Bird Areas Program
Lahontan Audubon Society
511 West King St.
Carson City, NV 89703
(775) 721-1298
puma@carsonnv.net

* Candidate sites are being considered for designation as Important Bird Areas by the respective State Technical Committee.