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 234LAKE OKEECHOBEEGlades, Hendry, Martin, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach counties470,000 acres (188,000 ha), including >28,250 acres (>11,300 ha) of marshlandLOCATION: in south-central Florida, bordered by Glades County to the west, Okeechobee County to thenorth, Martin County to the northeast, Palm Beach County to the southeast and south, and HendryCounty to the southwest. Contiguous with the Kissimmee Lake and River IBA to the north and theFisheating Creek Watershed IBA to the west. Near part of the Loxahatchee River and Slough IBA tothe east.DESCRIPTION: at over 730 square miles (1880 square km), Lake Okeechobee is the second-largestfreshwater lake entirely within the Lower 48 states (second only to Lake Michigan). It is quiteshallow, with its deepest portions only 20 feet (6 m) deep. Much of the southern and western portionsare composed of extensive marshes. Hurricanes in the 1920s swept over the lake, causing it tooverflow its banks, which killed over 2000 people at Belle Glade, Okeechobee, and Moore Haven. Toprevent this human tragedy from recurring, an earthen dike 35 feet (10.5 m) tall and 140 miles (224km) long was built from the 1930s to the 1960s, completely encircling the lake. This dike separatedthe lake from the Everglades, into which it previously drained. Extensive marshes remain inside thedike, along the lake's western half and to a lesser degree in the south and southeast. There is even adevelopment – a campground a marina complex – built on uplands inside the dike. For severaldecades, water levels in Lake Okeechobee have been manipulated for human uses and the lake nowserves primarily as an artificial reservoir. Unnatural water levels, and unseasonable releases of waterinto the Everglades to protect agricultural lands, have had devastating effects on the lake, theEverglades, and their associated wildlife. The lake receives about 2,500,000 recreationists and 60,000waterfowl hunters annually.OWNERSHIP: State of Florida; 28,250 acres (11,300 ha) of marshes in the western portion of the Lake aredesignated as Audubon SanctuariesHABITATS: *lacustrine, *freshwater marsh, cattail marsh, and sawgrass marsh, willow heads, mudflatsLAKE USES: *conservation, *water supply (up to 700 million gallons per day; 2.6 billion liters/day),*recreation, *fishing, hunting, and commercial uses (frogs, alligators, turtles, lotus seeds)IBA CATEGORIES: significant populations of Endangered, Threatened, FCREPA, and IBA species;significant numbers of aquatic birds, wading birds, and shorebirds; significant natural habitats; andlong-term research.AVIAN DATA: Lake Okeechobee is (or was) one of the two most critical sites in Florida for Snail Kites inFlorida, and when water levels are favorable, is used abundantly by wading birds, waterfowl, andshorebirds. [Is a bird list available?].
The Important Bird Areas of Florida: 2000–2002 – Pranty – 2-Jul-02 235Current statewide estimates are not applied to the wading bird data because of their age, but the numbers clearlyare extremely significant.SPECIES DATES NUMBERS COMMENTSGreat Egret1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)mean of 5823 birds (rangeof 2090–13,210)mean of 1352 pairs (rangeof 100–3250)(N)(B)Snowy EgretWhite IbisGlossy IbisWood StorkWading birds1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)1977–1981 (highestmonthly count per year)Jul 199020 Apr 1999mean of 2285 birds (rangeof 625–5622)mean of 315 pairs (rangeof 50–750)mean of 9682 birds (3040–20,525)mean of 1910 pairs (rangeof 0–3050)mean of 612 birds (rangeof 156–1155)mean of 80 pairs (range of0–200)mean of 920 birds (rangeof 0–1407)mean of 19,352 birds(range of 8297–41,519)mean of 4081 pairs (rangeof 1695–6350)50,000 birdsbetween 750–1650 pairs(N)aerial surveys only (B)Lesser Scaupwinters of 1990–1991 to mean of 70,000 birds(W)2000–2001 (range of 35,000–91,000)Waterfowl 1981–1982 11,886 birds Fisheating Bay only (W)American Cootwinters of 1995–1996 to mean of 19,000 birds(W)2000–2001Snail Kite 1973–198019961999–2000mean of 47 birds (range of39–214)35 nests0 nests16–33% of then-currentnumbers (R)8% (R)Bald Eagle 1999–2000 10 nests within 1.5 miles(2.4 km) of the lakeShorebirdsdrought periods 1000–10,000 birds17 Mar 2001 “thousands” of birds(N)(B)(N)(B)(N)(B)(N)(N)(B)lake mismanagementnearly 1% (B); lake usedextensively for foragingmostly yellowlegs, withhundreds of dowitchers,peeps, and othersBlack Skimmer annually in recent years >1000 birds Jaycee Park roost (N)Long-term research since the 1940s wading bird and SnailKite monitoring byAudubon wardensOverall diversity____ natives____ exoticsWaterfowl data from +Johnson and Montalbano (1984), 1977–1981 wading bird data from +Zaffke (1984), 1990wading bird data from +Smith et al. (1995), 1999 wading bird data provided by Julia Dodge (Florida Fish andWildlife Conservation Commission), scaup and coot data from annual Midwinter Waterfowl Inventory of the(former) Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, provided by Paul Gray (Audubon of Florida), kite data
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MemorandumBill Pranty, Florida IBA
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The Important Bird Areas of Florida
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THE IMPORTANTBIRD AREAS OFFLORIDA:
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Page 187 and 188: The Important Bird Areas of Florida
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Page 275 and 276: “Southeastern” American Kestrel
Page 277 and 278: Purple Martin (Progne subis)Tree Sw
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The Important Bird Areas of Florida - National Audubon Society

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