The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 170LAKE TOHOPEKALIGA and Adjacent UplandsOsceola County42,900 acres (17,160 ha)[This IBA needs additional data]LOCATION: in northwestern Osceola County, bordered by U.S. Highway 17/92 to the north and west ofFlorida's Turnpike. The town of Kissimmee borders the extreme northwestern portion of the lake.DESCRIPTION: the sixth-largest lake in Florida, surrounded primarily by cattle pastures. A 1-mile (1.6-km) buffer was drawn around the lake for IBA purposes. This IBA is near the Disney WildernessPreserve IBA to the southwest. The lake receives ____ recreationists and ____ hunters annually.OWNERSHIP: State of Florida (lake) and private owners (uplands)HABITATS: Lake Tohopekaliga: *lacustrine. Uplands: ____LAND USE: Lake Tohopekaliga: *conservation, *recreation. Uplands: *cattle grazing, residential,recreationIBA CATEGORIES: significant populations of Endangered, Threatened, and FCREPA species; andsignificant natural habitats.AVIAN DATA: Limited data are available for Lake Tohopekaliga, but Least Bitterns are commonbreeders, a significant population of Bald Eagles nest around the lake, and during severe droughts inthe Everglades, the lake has supported significant numbers of Snail Kites. Lake Kissimmee is animportant refugium for Snail Kites during drought years. The lake probably supports more avianspecies than the table illustrates, especially wading birds.SPECIES DATES NUMBERS COMMENTSLeast Bittern 1995–1997 (years combined) common; 143 nests (R)Snail Kite 1981–1985 mean of 6 birds (rangeof 0–17)0–5% of then-currentnumbers (R)Bald Eagle 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 29 nests 2% (R)Bittern data from +Rodgers and Schwikert (1999), kite data from +Rodgers et al. (1988), eagle GIS coverageprovided by Julia Dodge (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)OTHER RESOURCES: ____THREATS: ____CONSERVATION ISSUES: Rodgers and Schwikert (1999) found nests of the Least Bittern, PurpleGallinule, Common Moorhen, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Red-winged Blackbird that had failedbecause the cattails in which they were built had been sprayed with herbicide. Agencies responsiblefor the spraying regarded dense stands as providing little wildlife value. Rodgers and Schwikert(1999) recommended that future management of lakes in the region allow for the protection of somestands of cattail to provide suitable breeding habitat for several species of birds.There are 29 Bald Eagle nests within about 1 mile (1.6 km) of the lakeshore, and several other nestsbeyond this distance. All property surrounding Lake Tohopekaliga is in private ownerships, and someattempt should be made to acquire these properties (possibly through perpetual conservationeasement) to ensure protection of the eagle nests.NOMINATED BY: Bill Pranty (Audubon of Florida) and James A. Rodgers, Jr. (Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission)