Niagara River Corridor / Avian Walk

The Niagara River Corridor is a 36-mile strait connecting Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and is considered an Important Bird Area, a designation for places critical to bird populations as nesting locations, migration stopovers, and winter homes. Formed as the last glaciers retreated, the river became the principal drainage of Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Erie, which represent almost 20 percent of the world's available fresh water, and at Buffalo its average water flow is 212,000 cubic feet per second. Officially designated an International Important Bird Area of global significance in 2002 by the Audubon Society, the Canadian Nature Federation, Bird Studies Canada, and BirdLife International, the 23,166-square-mile corridor regularly supports fall and winter waterfowl concentrations exceeding 20,000 individuals of more than 20 species, including more than 28 waterfowl species that migrate through or spend the winter there, especially in the upper river north of Niagara Falls and near the head of the river by Buffalo. The corridor also annually supports one of the largest and most diverse concentrations of gulls in the world, with more than 100,000 gulls foraging along the river during fall and early winter; 19 gull species have been recorded there, including up to 14 species in a single day. Black Rock Canal Park lies on the corridor along the Atlantic Flyway, one of four major north-south flyways in the United States, where large migration routes closely follow major topographical features such as coasts, mountain ranges, and long rivers. In Black Rock Canal Park, the Avian Walk features sculptures representing bird species found in the corridor, including Turkey Vulture, Great Egret, Red-tailed Hawk, Herring Gull, Osprey, Tundra Swan, Bald Eagle, and Great Blue Heron.

Buffalo, New York · United States