The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

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The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 18Avian DataA vast amount of information about Florida’s avifauna is available—+Stevenson and Anderson(1994) compiled a bibliography of about 10,000 publications through the late 1980s. The Florida IBAProgram required that recent avian data significant at the statewide level be provided for every siteformally nominated as an IBA, and requested that a current bird list—even if rudimentary—be included.Most data provided to the IBA Program came from one of three sources: 1) unpublished observationsprovided by the site nominator; 2) observations published in either Florida Field Naturalist or AmericanBirds–Field Notes–North American Birds; and 3) “gray literature” such as unpublished technical reportsavailable from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission or U.S. Fish and WildlifeService. The wealth of avian data available for Florida ensures that other publications relevant to thestate's IBAs exist, and Audubon requests notice of these publications for possible inclusion in futureeditions of this book.After the close of the site nomination period, the IBA Coordinator perused all issues of FloridaField Naturalist, the journal of the Florida Ornithological Society, for articles and notes pertaining tosites designated as IBAs. Pranty also searched a text file containing all “Field Observations” published inFlorida Field Naturalist since summer 1992 to add significant observations to the avian data tables, andto increase the bird lists of several sites.Although the bird lists for each IBA are not included in this book (for reasons of space), they areavailable online at +. Not every site included a bird list,especially those IBAs consisting of small islands used primarily as wading bird rookeries, or recent stateacquisitions, in which little ornithological work has been accomplished. Nonetheless, the bird listsgenerated for most sites (61 of 99 IBAs; 61%) proved informative, and helped the Executive Committeeto rank sites. Additionally, the number of species observed in each IBA is presented in the avian datatables associated with each site.The following procedures were used in compiling bird lists for the IBA Program:1) Native and exotic species are listed separately.2) Only those native species on the “Official state list of the birds of Florida” +(Bowman 2000, 2001)are included. One exception, concerning the Couch's/Tropical Kingbird complex, was allowed due tothe extreme similarity of these two species. The Tropical Kingbird is on the official Florida list butthe Couch’s Kingbird is not +(Bowman 2000, 2001). For IBA lists, all reports of Couch's Kingbirdhave been changed to Couch's/Tropical Kingbird. Native species reported to occur within IBAs, butnot on the official Florida list (e.g., Prairie Falcon, Common Poorwill, Cuban Emerald, Olive-cappedWarbler, Bahama Yellowthroat, and Common Redpoll) were purged from IBA bird lists.3) Perusal of the bird lists compiled for Florida’s IBAs reveals several doubtful reports. While extensivereview of these lists is beyond the scope of the IBA Program, some changes were made to improvethe accuracy of the data: all Scarlet Ibises are considered to represent exotics (i.e., escapees); allWhite-winged Doves were considered native; reports of Ringed Turtle-Doves were changed toEurasian Collared-Doves due to almost certain misidentifications; and all “Northern Orioles” werepresumed to represent Baltimore Orioles, even though Bullock's Orioles also occur in the state.Although breeding populations of Canada Geese and Mallards clearly represent exotic (“feral”)populations, all individuals of these two species were considered native because “wild” populationswinter in the state, and checklists often did not distinguish between feral vs. wild individuals.4) Considering that bird checklists are available for many public areas, especially Federal properties andstate parks, there are perhaps 100 or more site-specific individual checklists published in Florida (inaddition to county lists). These lists are compiled in a bewildering number of different formats, theyoften contain taxonomy out-dated by one or more decades, and some lists are presented inalphabetical order by English name! It seems time that Audubon and the Florida OrnithologicalSociety make some attempt to ensure that all bird lists published in the state are based on currentnomenclature and taxonomy (see +Bowman 2000, 2001 for the currently accepted Florida bird list),
The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 19and include standardized definitions of abundance and occurrence. Birds not on the official Floridalist should be listed in a separate “hypothetical” section.Data PresentationFollowing the introductory material, most of this book is composed of the individual accounts for each ofFlorida's 99 IBAs. The format of the accounts is straightforward, and generally follows that of theoriginal three-page nomination form. The following information is provided for each site:• The name of the IBA. For IBAs composed of a single land ownership, this name usually follows thename of the site (e.g., Eglin Air Force Base, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park), but the names ofsome public ownerships have been shortened for IBA purposes. (Several state properties haveexceedingly long names, e.g., Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park, Fred C. Babcock–Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area, Split Oak Forest Mitigation Park Wildlife andEnvironmental Area, and T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park). Other IBAs arenamed to best describe the area included within the IBA (e.g., Lower Tampa Bay, Nassau and DuvalTidal Marshes, Northern Everglades). For IBAs composed of multiple ownerships, each public andconsenting private site is listed separately on the next line (e.g., the Lower Tampa Bay IBA iscomposed of Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge, Fort De Soto County Park, Passage KeyNational Wildlife Refuge, Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge, and Shell Key Preserve). Some of thesemultiple-site IBAs were nominated separately but later were combined by the Executive Committee,while others were nominated as a single unit.• The county or counties in which the IBA occurs• The size of the IBA, listed in acres and hectares (abbreviated ha). For IBAs that contain private landssought for public acquisition, the total acreage (or “hectarage”) is given first, followed by the numberof acres (hectares) publicly acquired or protected under perpetual conservation easements.• A general location, usually just a few lines of text, giving county designations and often describingboundaries based on public roadways or waterways. Adjacent or nearby (i.e., within 10 miles [16km]) IBAs also are included in this section.• A basic description of the site, often including the number of recreationists and hunters (if applicable)that the site receives annually. Elevation is not given for Florida's IBAs, since the state has so littleelevational relief. The highest point in Florida, in Walton County in the western Panhandle, is 345feet (106 m) above sea level, while Sugarloaf Mountain in Lake County, at 316 feet (95 m) above sealevel, is the highest point in the Peninsula. Also not presented in this book are Latitude/Longitudecoordinates of the approximate centers of Florida’s IBAs. While these coordinates are useful forsmall islands only a few acres (hectares) in size, they are meaningless for large sites such asEverglades National Park, which encompasses over 1.5 million acres (600,000 ha). Furthermore, theprecise boundaries of Florida’s IBAs are mapped in this book, unlike IBAs for other countries andstates, which use a “same-sized dot” format on their maps. Lastly, Florida’s IBA Program is GISbased(Projection: UTM; Datum: NAD83; Units: Meters), and the UTM coordinates of any site in thestate can instantly be determined with GIS software such as ArcView®, given the proper coverages.Digital Ortho Quarter-Quads (DOQQs) are extremely detailed (one-meter resolution) infrared aerialphotographs that can be imported directly into GIS coverages with the above file specifications.About half of the state’s DOQQs (1999 vintage) may be downloaded free of charge from the FloridaDepartment of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Survey and Mapping’s website:(), an incredible resource.• The public agency or agencies that own and/or manage the site. Non-public lands located withinIBAs are designated simply as “private” properties unless the landowners consented to having theirproperties mentioned specifically by name or ownership.
Page 1 and 2: MemorandumBill Pranty, Florida IBA
Page 3 and 4: The Important Bird Areas of Florida
Page 5 and 6: THE IMPORTANTBIRD AREAS OFFLORIDA:
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(25) *pickerelweed (Pontedaria cord
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“Southeastern” American Kestrel
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