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The goals of the Maryland-DC Important Bird Area program are to identify and conserve the sites most critical to bird populations in our region. To qualify as an IBA, a site must meet at least one of the criteria in the following three categories. Many sites will meet more than one criterion.
These criteria are not absolute. Members of the IBA advisory committee may consider other relevant factors in making site selections. A fourth category of selection criteria, Important Bird Research and Conservation Areas, allows the committee to identify sites that are important to bird conservation for the research accomplished there, but are not unique in a biological sense and would not qualify in one of the other three categories.
Category MD/DC-1: Significant Numbers
Category MD/DC-2: Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern Birds
Category MD/DC-3: Rare, Threatened or Unique Habitat
Category MD/DC-4: Long-term Avian Research and Monitoring
Sites where birds concentrate in significant numbers when breeding, in winter, or during migration.
Selection Criteria:
(1a) The site regularly supports at least 7,000 waterfowl (at one time) during some part of the year. The term “waterfowl” includes such birds as native geese, ducks, and swans, loons, grebes, cormorants, coots, and moorhens.
(1b) The site regularly supports at least 100 pelagic seabirds and/or terns (at one time) or 10,000 gulls (at one time) during some part of the year. Human-made food sources for gulls (landfills, dumpsites, sewage outflows, etc.) will not be considered as IBAs. The term “pelagic seabird” includes such birds as shearwaters, storm-petrels, fulmars, gannets, jaegers, and alcids.
(lc) The site regularly supports at least 300 shorebirds (at one time) if an inland site, or 1000 shorebirds (at one time) if coastal, during some part of the year. The term “shorebirds” includes such birds as plovers, sandpipers, snipe, woodcock, and phalaropes.
(1d) The site regularly supports at least 100 wading birds during some part of the year. The term “wading birds” includes such birds as bitterns, herons, egrets, and ibises.
(1e) The site is regularly an important stopover site, "bottleneck", or migratory corridor for at least 8,000 raptors (seasonal total) during spring or fall migration.
(1f) The site supports an exceptional diversity of bird species during migration. This would include sites that do not necessarily harbor large numbers of birds but that provide important habitat for more bird species than found at most sites. No absolute thresholds have been set due to the scarcity of quantitative data. Sites should be clearly unique from other sites in the local area.
(1g) The site supports a significant number of a particular species but supports a smaller total number of birds than any of the criteria above (1a-1e). Sites should support many more of the species in question than other sites where the species occurs. Ideally, the site should be known to hold or thought to hold more than 1% of the state population of a species. In practice, however, it will be difficult to estimate state population sizes for most species.
Explanation:
The category includes sites important for dense populations of breeding birds (such as a heronry), high concentrations of waterfowl or shorebirds, and migratory "bottlenecks" where geographical features concentrate large numbers of migratory birds. The numerical criteria (la-1e) are guidelines only, and the advisory committee may consider other factors in the site selection process. Criterion la should exclude nonmigratory Canada geese and mallards.
Sites for endangered, threatened, or special concern bird species.
Selection Criteria:
(2a) The site regularly supports a significant population of a species that is endangered, threatened, or in need of conservation, as defined by state regulations.
(2b) The site regularly supports a breeding population of a species that is highly rare or rare during the breeding season, as defined by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Explanation:
This category includes sites that provide habitat for bird species officially listed as endangered, threatened, or in need of conservation in the State of Maryland as defined in the Code of Maryland Regulations. (This code implements Maryland's Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act.) This category also includes sites that provide nesting habitat for species considered rare or highly rare in the state during the breeding season, as determined by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Sites should be those where the species occurs with regularity, not areas of infrequent occurrence.
Maryland Endangered Bird Species
Maryland Threatened Bird Species
Maryland Bird Species In Need of Conservation
Bird Species (Not Listed Above) Identified as Highly Rare or Rare during the Breeding Season
Sites that contain an assemblage of bird species characteristic of a rare, threatened, or unique habitat.
Selection Criteria:
The site contains an assemblage of bird species characteristic of a habitat type that is-
(3a) rare, threatened, or unusual within the state or region.
(3b) an exceptional representative of a natural or near-natural habitat within the state or region.
Explanation:
This category is meant to include large natural areas capable of supporting significant bird populations, especially of species with particular habitat requirements such as grassland or forest nesting birds. It also includes sites that are small remnants of an exceptional habitat type. Selection of sites in this category is based on the presence of bird species characteristic of the habitat type, not on the habitat type alone.
Sites for long-term avian research or monitoring.
Selection Criterion: The site is a natural area where long-term avian research and/or monitoring projects that contribute substantially to ornithology and bird conservation take place.
Explanation:
This category is meant to include sites that are important for their contributions to avian research. An indicator of such a site is a long record of data collection resulting in papers published in one or more professional ornithological journals such as The Auk, Condor, Wilson Bulletin, Journal of Field Ornithology, American Birds (Audubon Field Notes), or The Kingbird. While these sites may not be unique or essential in terms of their value as bird habitat, they are important to identify and conserve nonetheless.
For More on IBA's -- {Program Overview} {State-Level Criteria} {35 Regional IBA's}
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