The Green Bay region is a refuge for Wisconsin birds. Green Bay is the largest freshwater estuary in the world and throughout the region there are four Audubon Important Bird Areas (IBAs), which are recognized for providing the critically important habitat for marsh birds, migratory land birds and vulnerable shorebirds.
The Green Bay region has been identified by Audubon scientists as one of the 12 most important coastal wetland regions across the Great Lakes that are most important to conserve or restore for vulnerable marsh birds.
Years of urbanization and pollution have degraded wetlands across the region, particularly in the lower Green Bay area and its rivers, the Fox and East Rivers, which are listed as Environmental Protection Agency Areas of Concern (AOC).
Cat Island Restoration Project
Audubon Great Lakes is working to restore wetlands across the region, including work alongside more than 10 partners on The Cat Island Restoration Project. The project will reconstruct three islands in lower Green Bay, Wisconsin to provide more than 270 acres of habitat for wildlife and wetland habitat behind the islands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are constructing the islands out of dredged material from the Green Bay Harbor navigation channel. The islands will continue to grow through this process until approximately 2050.
In 2016, nesting Great Lakes Piping Plovers were detected at Cat Island. Audubon Great Lakes coordinates monitoring at the site, where a team of volunteers, staff, and partner staff monitor daily from early April through early August. Bird monitors for Great Lakes Piping Plovers are trained volunteers and staff who protect nesting sites by educating the public, observing plover behavior, and safeguarding nests from predators and human disturbance
Oneida Bird Monitoring Program
The Oneida Nation has restored more than 3,000 acres of reservation wetlands, grasslands, prairies and forests in Northeastern Wisconsin, alleviating water pollution and the spread of invasive plant species. The Oneida Bird Monitoring Program is a collaborative partnership between Oneida Nation, Audubon Great Lakes, Northeastern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Cofrin Center for Biodiversity (UWGB), that is working to understand how birds are responding to this important conservation.
Since 2021, volunteer bird monitors have conducted >1,500 surveys, documented more than 200 bird species, and counted more than 200,000 individual birds at Oneida restoration sites— an incredible testament to the importance of this restoration and the dedication of the project volunteers. The project also aims to build community among bird watchers in the area and elevate Oneida’s rich culture, history and language. This important funding will support valuable conservation, data collection and knowledge-sharing work.
Partners include Common Coast Research and Conservation, Lake-to-Lake CISMA , Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Northeast Wisconsin (NEW) Audubon Society, The Oneida Nation, University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, UW-Green Bay Audubon Student Conservation Chapter, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Collaboration and commitment are driving the continued rebound of a cherished Great Lakes shorebird.
A unified effort of dedicated conservationists, volunteers and community members are hopeful for another record-breaking season
Researchers, partners and volunteers work together to monitor and protect endangered shorebird
The Pre-Disaster Flood Resilience Grant Program and Oneida Bird Monitoring Program receives important funding; Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program left on cutting room floor
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