Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in CT

Our Goals

Identifying habitats that will protect sustainable populations of birds.

What We’re Doing

Ensuring that IBAs are protected and stewarded as healthy places for birds to nest, forage, and rest.

Snowy Egrets at Milford Point, a Globally Important IBA in Connecticut. Photo: Jeff Hullstrung/Audubon Photography Awards

Audubon's Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program is a global effort to identify and protect habitats that will sustain populations of birds. The IBA Program allows Audubon and other conservation partners to make sound conservation decisions in the face of considerable uncertainty from the changing climate, the economy, and gaps in our knowledge of the abundance and distribution of our highest priority species.

As the U.S. partner for BirdLife International, Audubon spearheads an ambitious effort to identify, monitor, and protect the most important places for birds. We also collaborate with 19 international partners to extend a web of protection throughout the Western Hemisphere.

To date Audubon has identified 2,758 IBAs covering 417 million acres of public and private lands in the United States. Among them are high-priority Global IBAs—places like Connecticut's Lyme Forest Block, areas within Alaska’s Arctic Slope, and coastal bird sanctuaries in Texas.

Important Bird Areas Across Connecticut

IBAs marked with an asterisk* indicate their status as Globally Important.

Aton Forest, Inc., Norfolk, Colebrook
Bafflin Sanctuary Complex, Pomfret
Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, Stonington *
Bent of the River Audubon Center, Southbury
Connecticut College Arboretum, Waterford, New London
Couch Hill Preserve, Redding
Cove Island Park, Stamford
District of Willimantic Chimney Swift Roosts, Windham *
East Rock Park, New Haven
Falkner Island Unit of McKinney NWR, Guilford
Good Hill Farm Preserve, Woodbury, Roxbury
Great Captain's Island, Greenwich
Greenwich Audubon Center (including Quaker Ridge), Greenwich
Greenwich Point Park, Greenwich
Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison *
Lighthouse Point Park, New Haven
Mamacoke Island, Waterford
Menunketesuck and Duck Islands, Westbrook
Milford Point/Wheeler Marsh, Milford *
Naugatuck State Forest, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls
Northwest Park, Windsor
Quinnipiac River Tidal Marsh, North Haven, New Haven, Hamden *
Salt Meadow Unit of McKinney NWR, Westbrook *
Sandy Point, West Haven *
Silver Sands State Park and Charles Island, Milford
Station 43, South Windsor
Stratford Great Meadows Area, Stratford *
TNC's Devil's Den, Weston, Redding
Topsmead State Forest, Litchfield
West River Memorial & Edgewood Park, New Haven
White Memorial Foundation, Litchfield, Morris *
Wimisink Preserve, Sherman
Woodbury Chimney Swift Roost, Woodbury *

Landscape-Scale Important Bird Areas include state-owned as well as privately held lands.

Great Meadows: This IBA includes lush farmland and forested wetlands along an 8-mile stretch of the Connecticut River in Wethersfield, East Hartford, Glastonbury, and Rocky Hill.
Lyme Forest Block: This area includes lands in several towns within Middlesex and New London Counties. Among state lands in this IBA are: Devil’s Hopyard State Park, Babcock Pond Wildlife Management Area, Zemko Pond Wildlife Management Area, Eightmile River Wildlife Management Area, Nehantic State Forest, Seldon Neck State Park, and Beckett Hill State Park. Landowners and residents in the Lyme Forest Block are invited to participate in the Lyme Forest Block Conservation Project—select here to learn more.
Macedonia Forest Block: This area is located in Kent and Sharon. It includes Audubon Sharon and Macedonia Brook State Park.
Meshomasic Forest Block: This area covers lands in Hartford and Middlesex County, including Meshomasic State Forest and Gay City State Park.
Miles Wildlife Sanctuary and Housatonic State Forest Block: This area is located in Sharon and Lakeville, and includes Housatonic State Forest and the Audubon Miles Wildlife Sanctuary.
Mouth of the Connecticut River: This area is located in Old Lyme and Old Saybrook. It includes the Roger Tory Peterson Wildlife Management Area and the Ragged Rock Creek Wildlife Management Area.
Shepaug Forest Block: This area includes forested lands along a 15-mile stretch of the Shepaug River in Washington and Roxbury, Connecticut.

Featured Important Bird Area

The Lyme Forest Block Is Recognized as a Landscape-Scale IBA

This 60,000-acre block includes wooded areas in six towns in southeast Connecticut and overlays much of the Eightmile Watershed. To strengthen the conservation of this area and halt bird population declines, a community project was launched to engage local landowners and help steward a critical 1,200-acre area. Through bird walks, educational workshops, and home habitat assessments, landowners were given recommendations for improving habitat to benefit birds, other wildlife, and forest ecosystems.

Learn about the project

Our Local Centers Are Important Bird Areas

Our Greenwich and Bent of the River Audubon Centers are State-Level IBAs, while our Sharon Audubon Center lies within the Landscape-Scale Macedonia Forest Block IBA.