Important Bird Area Program Data Needs
The Important Bird Areas program needs your help to gather data on potential and existing Important Bird Areas (IBAs). The goal of the IBA program is to identify and conserve areas that are critical to one or more bird species for breeding, feeding, wintering, or migration.
A partnership coordinated by New Hampshire Audubon, the IBA Technical Committee reviews nomination forms and data from birders are often critical in these applications.
Help the Important Bird Areas program:
- bird at any of the following locations.
- record your sightings using the New Hampshire Bird Records Excel template.
- submit your sightings to both New Hampshire Bird Records, birdrecords@nhaudubon.org, and Pamela Hunt, phunt@nhaudubon.org.
Current data needs to evaluate potential IBAs (north to south):
- Pittsburg
- • Connecticut Lakes – migrant waterfowl
- • South Bay Bog
- Colebrook and Stewartstown
- • Breeding season Northern Harrier and grassland birds
- Connecticut River North – Lyme to Pittsburg
- Lyme, Orford, Piermont, Haverhill, Bath, Monroe, Littleton, Dalton, Lancaster, Northumberland, Stratford, Columbia, Colebrook, Stewartstown. Includes McIdoe, Comerford and Moore Reservoirs in Monroe/Littleton
- • Migration concentrations, especially waterfowl
- • Breeding species in wetlands
- Errol and Cambridge
- • Mollidgewock Brook wetland
- Cambridge
- • Bog Brook wetland
- Lake Winnipesauke
- • Migrant waterfowl
- Springfield
- • McDaniel's Marsh – breeding season wetland birds (i.e., rails, grebes, bitterns)
- Danbury
- • Danbury Bog – breeding season wetland birds (i.e., rails, grebes, bitterns)
- Sutton
- • Cascade Marsh – breeding season wetland birds (i.e., rails, grebes, bitterns)
Existing IBAs in need of updated data:
- Squam Lake
- • Migrant waterfowl
- Lower Connecticut River
- • Bank Swallow colonies (Claremont to Hinsdale, both sides of the river)
- Merrimack River, fields in Litchfield & Merrimack
- • Migration concentrations, especially waterfowl
- • Bank Swallow colonies (Franklin to Nashua)
- Pawtuckaway State Park (Nottingham and Deerfield)