Featured Important Bird Area:
Antelope Valley, California  Located north of Los Angeles, in the western Mojave Desert, Antelope Valley is a Global Important Bird Area (IBA) providing key habitat for wintering Mountain Plover and both breeding and non-breeding Tricolored Blackbird, two species of global conservation concern. Consisting of a mosaic habitat of agricultural lands, Joshua Tree woodland and desert scrub, and wildflower fields, this IBA is set in a rapidly-developing region of the country. As the remnant Joshua Tree Woodland here supports one of the farthest-west populations of Le Conte's Thrasher in the state, agricultural fields support Long-billed Curlews in fall and winter. The wintering grassland community is impressive, with large numbers of raptors concentrating in the area. Large flocks of Vesper Sparrows, Horned Lark and Mountain Bluebirds also occur here, widely extirpated elsewhere in the Los Angeles area. As this site lies in the path of a major spring migration route for songbirds, hundreds of vireos, thrushes and warblers pass through during April and May. Land here is overwhelmingly privately-owned, though several hundred acres are protected as the Antelope Valley California Poppy State Reserve.
Top Conservation Issues
As is the case for other Important Bird Areas, this site is seeing a rapid transformation from an agricultural and wild landscape to an urban zone of tract homes and planted trees. As tract homes replace thousands of acres of open space each year, birds are being forced into increasingly smaller areas.
How Audubon Is Helping
Audubon is working to create a linkage of undeveloped lands from San Gabriel Mountains to Tehachapi Mountains. Through a precedent-setting agreement brokered by Audubon California and five other environmental groups with the Tejon Ranch Company in spring of 2008, portions of this Important Bird Area have been protected. This Tejon Ranch agreement has secured permanent conservation of 240,000 acres, covering part of this IBA, and has established an independent Tejon Ranch Conservancy to manage and restore the landscape, monitor conservation easements, and provide for public access. All of this will lead to the protection of approximately 90 percent of Tejon's rich natural habitat from development. More on the Tejon Ranch agreement.
What You Can Do
- Join one of the local Audubon chapters, Pasadena Audubon or Los Angeles Audubon
- Participate in the local Christmas Bird Count, the Lancaster Christmas Bird Count
- Advocate for land protection in Antelope Valley and work with your local chapter on addressing conservation concerns throughout the valley
How to Get There:
Directions to Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve State Natural Area:
The Reserve is located 15 miles west of Lancaster at 15101 Lancaster Road.
From Highway 14, take the Avenue I exit and head west 15 miles. Avenue I becomes Lancaster Road. From I-5, take Hwy 138 east and turn right on 170th
Street West. Make a left at the end, onto Lancaster Road. Follow the road two miles.
Click on the arrows or plus and minus signs on the interactive map below to move around or zoom in or out and explore this site even further:
Click on the arrows or plus and minus signs on the interactive map below to move around or zoom in or out and explore this site even further:
More on Antelope Valley and other Important Bird Areas.
“Important Bird Areas unite people and places to conserve some of our most vital natural treasures. This global initiative gives wings to the stewardship Audubon has encouraged for over 100 years.”
- John Flicker, President, National Audubon Society
|
