Conservation
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Conservation
Important Bird Areas
The Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program
As the U.S. partner for Birdlife International, the National Audubon Society identifies and works to conserve a network of Important Bird Areas (IBAs) throughout the U.S. The IBA program in the U.S. is implemented on a state-by-state basis, with coordination at the national level through the National Audubon Society. State-level IBAs are prioritized as continentally or globally significant. This prioritization focuses the IBA program on achieving the greatest conservation results. IBA conservation activities include habitat restoration, land acquisition, and education of local communities about their unique birds and bird habitats. To learn more about the IBA program, visit http://www.audubon.org/bird/iba.
The Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch IBA
The Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch is located in a broad semi-desert grassland in southeastern Arizona. It is a sanctuary for native plants and animals from which livestock has been excluded since 1968. It encompasses a mix of habitats including semi-desert uplands, oak savannahs, and oak woodlands cut by small ephemeral creeks and riparian habitat. The Research Ranch is, in part, privately owned by the National Audubon Society. There is also BLM, Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy and Swift Current Land and Cattle Co. LLC land within the Research Ranch.
Grasslands have been designated priority habitat by the Arizona Partners in Flight (APIF) Conservation Plan. The Audubon’s Appleton Whittell Research Ranch IBA contains the following grassland species of special conservation status:
Botteri’s Sparrow (breeding)
Baird’s Sparrow (wintering)
Cassin’s Sparrow (breeding)
Grasshopper Sparrow (resident)
Montezuma Quail (resident)
Black-chinned Sparrow (wintering)
Brewer’s Sparrow (wintering)
Sprague’s Pipit (fall migrant)
Sage Sparrow (wintering)
Eastern Bluebird (resident)
Burrowing Owl (resident)
Northern Harrier (wintering)
Non-grassland species of special conservation status include:
Band-tailed Pigeon (fall migrant)
Willow Flycatcher (summer visitor)
Lucy’s Warbler (breeding)
Virginia’s Warbler (breeding)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (summer visitor)
Black-throated Gray Warbler (breeding)
Cordilleran Flycatcher (breeding)
Gray Flycatcher (breeding)
MacGillivray’s Warbler (fall migrant).
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