Wyoming has 48 places important to birds
This edition of Bird Banter, "Wyoming has 48 places important to birds," appeared April 5, 2009 in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle's Outdoors section. Please contact the author, bgorges4@msn.com, for permission to reprint it in hard copy or virtual copy for commercial or nonprofit purposes. Thanks.
Note: For those of you who have been wondering if you’ve been missing any Bird Banters, publication dates for columns from all six WTE Outdoors columnists have been unpredictable since last summer. If you are interested in Bird of the Week, please let me know.
Audubon Wyoming has installed three interpretive signs at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch to call attention to its status as an Important Bird Area. In the distance two bird watchers are seen walking the new nature trail.
Spring means a birder’s thoughts turn to migration and those hotspots where birds will be thickest.
Some spring hotspots are on a national list of Important Bird Areas. Two of those IBAs are right here in Cheyenne. No entrance fees required.
BirdLife International has identified places important to birds on every continent, in 100 countries and territories. Places like Fiji, Romania and Peru. They work with local agencies to help implement conservation and education plans.
In 1995, the National Audubon Society became the sponsoring organization for the IBA program in the U.S. While some places are rated as globally important, such as Yellowstone National Park, others are recognized as important at the national and state level.
Audubon Wyoming has recognized 48 places as important to birds in our state so far. Coordinator Alison Lyon-Holloran is still taking nominations. Contact her in Laramie at 307-745-4848 or at aholloran@audubon.org. Check www.AudubonWyoming.org to see which sites are already in the program.
What makes a place important to birds? It is important to birds during migration, and/or breeding and/or wintering seasons for one or more species, meaning birds can find food, shelter and water and whatever else they require during a particular season. Alison also requires approval from the landowner before reviewing the nomination.
Nominating Lions Park was a no-brainer for my local chapter, Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society (CHPAS). We have people traveling to Cheyenne from a 200-mile radius because the park’s trees, shrubs and lake attract so many species during spring migration. At the mid-May peak one year I counted 60 species in two hours.
The nomination stalled at first when the ornithologists on the technical committee countered that we only saw a lot of birds at the park because a lot of people birded there. Yes, but we could probably find the same diversity and abundance of songbirds, if not the waterfowl, in all of the surrounding old neighborhoods. We couldn’t very well walk through everyone’s yard.
CHPAS continues to monitor the park’s bird life through seasonal surveys and evaluates the impacts of new park developments.
The Wyoming Hereford Ranch has had a long and friendly relationship with the local birding community. Anna Marie and Sloan Hales welcome inspection by binocular, as long as no one disturbs the livestock, hops the fences or intrudes on the residents of the ranch.
Again, I’d venture to say that other properties along cottonwood-filled creeks in southeastern Wyoming might have similar abundance and diversity. The difference is the Sloans.
Not only have they welcomed birders, but they were thrilled to be part of the nomination process. They’ve worked with the Laramie Co. Conservation District to improve wildlife habitat and in cooperation with Audubon Wyoming to install signs this spring educating visitors about why their ranch is an IBA. The Hales have also created a little nature trail.
The ranch, as an oasis of wildness on the edge of Cheyenne, will only become more and more important a refuge as high density housing and commercial enterprises continue to move into their neighborhood.
Who knew over 100 years ago when the ranch was established people would want to build houses in cow pastures 10 miles from the State Capitol building?
IBA designation doesn’t bind any landowner to any course of action. But it does make people aware that their actions will have an impact on birds.
IBA designations make us stop and think about beings besides ourselves. We get back to the original question. Does a bird have any value if you aren’t a birdwatcher? Sometimes it has an obvious usefulness, such as keeping pests under control.
If nothing else, birds are a part of nature and contact with nature is being scientifically proven to improve our mental health. If you choose to ignore the research, then live in a house with no windows. Keep your ears plugged with ear buds. Breathe cigarette smoke so you can’t tell stale from fresh air.
But the majority of us are ready for spring and the excuses of outdoor chores and recreation. Here in Cheyenne we don’t have to travel to Important Bird Areas, even our local ones, to see special birds. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open in our own backyards.
Note: For those of you who have been wondering if you’ve been missing any Bird Banters, publication dates for columns from all six WTE Outdoors columnists have been unpredictable since last summer. If you are interested in Bird of the Week, please let me know.
Audubon Wyoming has installed three interpretive signs at the Wyoming Hereford Ranch to call attention to its status as an Important Bird Area. In the distance two bird watchers are seen walking the new nature trail.
Spring means a birder’s thoughts turn to migration and those hotspots where birds will be thickest.
Some spring hotspots are on a national list of Important Bird Areas. Two of those IBAs are right here in Cheyenne. No entrance fees required.
BirdLife International has identified places important to birds on every continent, in 100 countries and territories. Places like Fiji, Romania and Peru. They work with local agencies to help implement conservation and education plans.
In 1995, the National Audubon Society became the sponsoring organization for the IBA program in the U.S. While some places are rated as globally important, such as Yellowstone National Park, others are recognized as important at the national and state level.
Audubon Wyoming has recognized 48 places as important to birds in our state so far. Coordinator Alison Lyon-Holloran is still taking nominations. Contact her in Laramie at 307-745-4848 or at aholloran@audubon.org. Check www.AudubonWyoming.org to see which sites are already in the program.
What makes a place important to birds? It is important to birds during migration, and/or breeding and/or wintering seasons for one or more species, meaning birds can find food, shelter and water and whatever else they require during a particular season. Alison also requires approval from the landowner before reviewing the nomination.
Nominating Lions Park was a no-brainer for my local chapter, Cheyenne – High Plains Audubon Society (CHPAS). We have people traveling to Cheyenne from a 200-mile radius because the park’s trees, shrubs and lake attract so many species during spring migration. At the mid-May peak one year I counted 60 species in two hours.
The nomination stalled at first when the ornithologists on the technical committee countered that we only saw a lot of birds at the park because a lot of people birded there. Yes, but we could probably find the same diversity and abundance of songbirds, if not the waterfowl, in all of the surrounding old neighborhoods. We couldn’t very well walk through everyone’s yard.
CHPAS continues to monitor the park’s bird life through seasonal surveys and evaluates the impacts of new park developments.
The Wyoming Hereford Ranch has had a long and friendly relationship with the local birding community. Anna Marie and Sloan Hales welcome inspection by binocular, as long as no one disturbs the livestock, hops the fences or intrudes on the residents of the ranch.
Again, I’d venture to say that other properties along cottonwood-filled creeks in southeastern Wyoming might have similar abundance and diversity. The difference is the Sloans.
Not only have they welcomed birders, but they were thrilled to be part of the nomination process. They’ve worked with the Laramie Co. Conservation District to improve wildlife habitat and in cooperation with Audubon Wyoming to install signs this spring educating visitors about why their ranch is an IBA. The Hales have also created a little nature trail.
The ranch, as an oasis of wildness on the edge of Cheyenne, will only become more and more important a refuge as high density housing and commercial enterprises continue to move into their neighborhood.
Who knew over 100 years ago when the ranch was established people would want to build houses in cow pastures 10 miles from the State Capitol building?
IBA designation doesn’t bind any landowner to any course of action. But it does make people aware that their actions will have an impact on birds.
IBA designations make us stop and think about beings besides ourselves. We get back to the original question. Does a bird have any value if you aren’t a birdwatcher? Sometimes it has an obvious usefulness, such as keeping pests under control.
If nothing else, birds are a part of nature and contact with nature is being scientifically proven to improve our mental health. If you choose to ignore the research, then live in a house with no windows. Keep your ears plugged with ear buds. Breathe cigarette smoke so you can’t tell stale from fresh air.
But the majority of us are ready for spring and the excuses of outdoor chores and recreation. Here in Cheyenne we don’t have to travel to Important Bird Areas, even our local ones, to see special birds. We just need to keep our eyes and ears open in our own backyards.
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