Important Bird Areas

Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania IBAs by Type

IBA Priority Number Acres
Global 6 22,219
Continental 7 47,582
State 73 1,386,666
Total 86 1,456,467

Formed in 1996, Pennsylvania developed the first statewide Important Bird Area (IBA) program in the country. A group of scientific advisors (known as the Ornithological Technical Committee) has identified over 80 IBA sites encompassing over two million acres of Pennsylvania's public and private land. These areas include migratory staging areas, winter roost sites and prime breeding areas for songbirds, wading birds, and other species. Pennsylvania is making an important contribution to the conservation of bird habitat in the western hemisphere. Penn's Woods are critical to many interior forest birds, providing nesting habitat to 17% of the world's Scarlet Tanagers and 9% of the Wood Thrushes. By focusing attention on the most essential and vulnerable areas, the IBA program helps to promote proactive habitat conservation, benefiting birds and biodiversity. Audubon Pennsylvania works with a multitude of partners across the Commonwealth to advance the conservation of Important Bird Areas. For more information on the individual sites, please use the map to the right to navigate to your desired location. See Feature News - and submit your bird observations - on {link:Pennsylvania eBird|http://ebird.org/content/pa/news/discover-pennsylvania2019s-important-bi...} {link:Frequently Asked Questions about the IBA Program|http://pa.audubon.org/iba/faq.html}

Site Namesort ascending Status Priority Counties IBA Criteria
Pine Creek Gorge Natural Area Merged Tioga D3
Pennsy, Black, & Celery Swamps - State Game Lands 151 & 284 Recognized State Lawrence, Mercer D3
Peace Valley Park Recognized State Bucks D4ii, D4iii
Oley Hills Forest Block Recognized State D3
Oil Creek State Park Merged Crawford, Venango D3
Octoraro Reservoir Recognized State Chester, Lancaster D3, D4i, D4ii, D4v
Mount Zion (Piney Tract) Recognized Global Clarion D3
Moraine State Park & Jennings EEC Recognized State Butler D4ii
Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area Recognized Global Lancaster, Lebanon D4i, D4ii, D5
McConnells Mill State Park Recognized State Lawrence
Maurice K. Goddard State Park Recognized State Mercer
Marsh Creek Wetlands - "The Muck" Recognized State Tioga
Loyalsock/North Mountain Forest Block Recognized Continental B3
Lower Susquehanna River Gorge - Conowingo/Muddy Run Recognized Continental Lancaster B3, D3, D4ii
Lower Buffalo Creek Watershed Recognized State Washington
Long Pond Preserve Recognized State Carbon, Monroe D3
Laurels, King Ranch and Stroud Recognized State Chester D1, D3
Lake Somerset Recognized State Somerset D4ii
Lake Ontelaunee